"And here we go"

We start this year with the very famous line of late actor Heath Ledger, who portrayed the Joker in the 2008 Batman movie - The Dark Night.

The Joker saying those words had a different meaning than what we will discuss here, but I will allow you to watch that fantastic movie if you have not done so, so there are no spoilers from me.

With a new year comes the all-important New Year resolution phase.? Now, I am not particularly fond of the word resolution.? It feels like it lacks action or intent; it comes across as something nice to say but does not drive action and accountability.? I prefer to refer to buckets.? We all have multiple buckets that represent many things in our lives.? Whether it is the all-important health bucket, relationship bucket, self-development bucket, tick something off my "bucket list" bucket, or so on.? Buckets present the opportunity to visualise - how full is it?? It gives you mindful direction with clear intent on whether you want to keep the bucket as full as it is or maybe it is empty, and you need to move that specific one to the front of the line and make a plan to fill it.

The thing about any New Year is that we start it with somewhat revitalised energy (which is definitely not bad), positive ambitions and ready to take on the world.? Yet as we progress through the year, that energy may dwindle, the focus on the critical things we had at the start of the year gets diverted, or we get distracted with something new.? How do we keep the energy going and avoid the pitfalls of shifting to something a bit easier or less uncomfortable?? Now, I am not going to give the top 5 tips on how to make your New Year resolutions stick here (think if you type that into Google, you will get more than enough articles and also not implying that there is no value in those).? Instead, think about the following while visualising the names written on the stickers you may currently have on your buckets.

1. Why do you want to do it?? Why were you thinking about this specific thing in the first place?? Is it that important, or are you just going through the motions of - well, probably have to have this one here again?? Do not be afraid to go against the flow and really question your buckets upfront.?
2. What will it mean if you fill this bucket or partially fill it?? What changes in your life, or what does it enable?? Is it worth your time?
3. How are you going to celebrate it?? I don't think we reward ourselves often enough.? We set challenging expectations/goals, and when we achieve them, we do not really celebrate them.? You went from start to finish, and having something to look forward to at the end is always encouraging.
4. I mentioned the sticker – are you scared? ?If you write things down, it is visual, and you can't hide from it.? Out of sight, out of mind.
5. Do you have good mix?? Life is tough enough, so you do not have to select the 5 most difficult buckets at the start.? Make sure you have a good mix - something that can challenge you over the longer term and one or two that you know you can "smash" in a short period.? Seeing progression kickstarts momentum, and seeing is believing.
6. Small wins - those "tougher buckets" may take a couple of months or even a couple of years - so have smaller milestone measurements in them to see that slowly, but surely it is filling up.? Steady progression over time will always beat that big bang approach.
7. The elevator bucket - the uncomfortable one ( note to self: why are elevators so uncomfortable - something to look into).? This one requires maturity and honesty.? What is the one thing you know you must address but push to the side too often?? The one you hope will go away yet gives you a jump scare every now and then.

For me, this approach is a lot different compared to simply saying - I want to lose weight or read more.? It creates action and clear reasoning and has meaning, impact, and emotion attached to it.? Now, all of this is good, but here is, as they would say - the kicker.? Take a step back and now ask yourself the following - Given where I am currently in this journey called life, have I become what I dreamed of or envisaged to become when I was younger, 5 years back, 10 years back - the exact period is less important compared to the honest reflection of where you are now.? Take a look at those buckets again.? Is there anything missing that should be added, or is there an existing one to replace to enable you to give a positive response to this?? Maybe that elevator bucket should get another level?? And if you are where you wanted to be, then fantastic - keep at it!

The last thing to remember is to achieve any goal – to fill any bucket – you need to show up, and you can't let a bad day get you down.? You have to put in the effort, sometimes the effort that no one sees, to achieve what you want.? If you look at any success story – it did not happen overnight for those individuals – they put in the hard work and so should we all.? It makes the end result so much more rewarding.

It feels as if uncertainty over the last couple of years has increased dramatically due to a world dealing with challenges on so many fronts.? My wish for you is that 2025 will be remembered as the year when buckets were not only filled but overflowed.? May your new bucket list (and don't throw away the more traditional bucket list) inspire you not just this year but many years to come.?

We end with the words of CS Lewis: