Written by: Nina Szewczak, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Over 80% of New Year’s resolutions are long forgotten about within the first few weeks of the clock striking midnight on NYE.
Here is how you make yours successful and stop yourself from joining the poor statistics:
1. Create a clear vision of what you want to achieve.
You don’t need all the steps or 'the how' when you start ‒ you need the direction of travel though so you know where you are heading (like putting your destination into a sat-nav. You don’t know all the turns and roundabouts when you begin your journey, but you trust that you will get to your destination).
2. Establish who you need to become in order to execute your vision.
Your current self, with your existing habits, routines and autopilots won’t take you there. E.g. If your goal is to become healthier, you need to ask yourself what a healthier version of you looks like? What are their thoughts? What are their beliefs? How do they feel? How do they behave? What actions do they take? etc.
3. Identify your existing beliefs, behaviors, habits, routines and autopilots that will need changing in order for you to become who you need to be in order to deliver your vision and achieve your goal.
E.g. If you want to get healthier but you have been starting your days with a coffee and a doughnut for a while ‒ your mind and body won’t suddenly get super excited at the thought of a green smoothie instead. And even if within the first few days, with your initial New Year’s motivation, they are excited by it ‒ once your initial enthusiasm and motivation wear off (and they will), your mind and body will do their best to drag you back to your old routine. This is not only because by now you are addicted to sugar and caffeine, but our minds and bodies always seek safety and comfort and this exists in what’s familiar to them.
4. Change your thoughts and beliefs.
Beliefs are just thoughts that we think over and over again. We don’t often make time to review them and over time we just take them as ‘the truth’. They are not, they are just repetitive thoughts hardwired into our minds. If you want to change them, you need to remove them from your mind and install new thoughts that will serve you better, and in time will become your new beliefs. E.g., If your current beliefs are in the realm of ‘being healthy is hard work/I couldn't start my day without a coffee’ etc. every time these thoughts come to your mind, you change them for more useful thoughts, this could be e.g. ‘I choose to think that being healthy is easy/ starting my day without a coffee makes me feel great’ etc. This process is a little laborious at the start as you have to help your mind by doing the ‘manual work’ of consciously changing your thoughts, but just like your existing beliefs took time to be installed in your mind in the first place, the new ones will take some time too. The work is totally worth it though as over time and with consistent efforts, they will become your new autopilot and help you become the person you want to become.
5. Hold yourself accountable and become the master of your mind
drive to succeed ‒ otherwise you will always be the servant of your mind’s autopilots and comfort zones.
Whenever your mind tries to pull you back into the old self (you know the familiar ‘start from tomorrow/ might as well begin from Monday’ whispers), you take the reins, remember your vision and why it’s important for you to go in its direction and you do what the person you are becoming would do. You put the old self where it belongs ‒ in the past, and you drive to succeed as the new version of yourself.
What New Year Revolution will you be making??
Nina Szewczak, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Nina Szewczak, MSc, CMgr, FCMI, (She/Her) ‒ The Midlife Revolution Specialist
Nina’s experience and expertise combine over 17 years of work & study in the realm of transformation and change, leadership and management, coaching, mentoring and HR and revolutionizing lives.
Nina completely transformed her own life twice and is helping people to overcome adversities, turn situations from tragic to magic, get better ‒ not bitter, and make life great again.
