New Year's Resolutions or All Year Real Solutions?

Make 2008 Your Best Year Yet

Yes, the new year is here. 2008, a leap year, designated the United Nations International Year of Planet Earth and "European Year of Intercultural Dialogue" by the European Parliament. 2008 promises a host of interesting events including, the Expo in Zaragoza, Spain, Presidential elections in the US, Russia and China, general elections in Spain and New Zealand, the UEFA Euro 2008 football championship in Austria & Switzerland, the summer Olympics in Beijing, China and much much more.

It is especially at this time of the year when people think about how they plan their life to be different and make their New Year's Resolutions. Funny that, they way we call them 'New Year's Resolutions', because that's often how long they last, a couple of weeks and if you are lucky, until the end of January. Well, what do you expect? I mean they are only New Year's Resolutions after all. So, what we need then are All Year Resolutions? Well, not quite. When you think about it, a resolution is only a re-solution, a repeated solution to an familiar problem or issue. How often do you find yourself with the same resolutions every new year? Therefore, what you will want to find are real solutions, those strategies and techniques that can support you in reaching your goals and making 2008 your best year yet.

To help with that we are going to look at a series of questions that you can ask yourself to enable you to clarify and achieve what you want to most focus on for 2008. These initial questions will allow you to build a solid foundation for you to move forward.

• What did I accomplish in 2007?

Before you look ahead and decide how you want to make the most of this new year, you will find it useful to look back and remember the good news from last year. Remember where you were this time last year, give yourself some appreciation and focus on your successes. You can also take the question forward and as you go through 2008 use it on and get into the habit creating a track record of the things that go well for you.

• What were my biggest disappointments?

This is an important step. Here you make the opportunity to tell yourself the truth about what didn't work for you and let it go. Once you bring it to the surface and get it all down, the failures and negativity lose their value. This allows you to travel forward without any excess baggage. It more effective to a good friend to your successes than to be seduced by your failures.

• What did I learn?

Here you have the opportunity to focus on the learnings you made over the last year. When things didn't go so well for you, what did you take from those situations. Write the lessons down for yourself as simple rules, reminders or instructions. Maybe you learnt some new skills and abilities. If so, make a list of them. Also, when you think of the things that went well for you, ask yourself questions such as

• How exactly did I do that?
• What was the secret of my success in that situation?

Based on all that you have observed, what tips and advice would you pass on to your family and friends?

• How do I limit myself, and how can I stop?

This can be quite a challenging area to focus on, but you will find it useful and it will prove to be a key area in your road map to success this year. Think about the areas that you are not getting results in and begin to figure out how you are limiting yourself. What roadblocks are you putting in your own way? What do you hear yourself saying to explain away your failures? What is it that you can't see that maybe others can see from the outside? How can you recycle your can'ts into cans? Remember that your thoughts and feelings help to shape your results and just imagine how really different 2008 will be once you change your negative paradigms into positive statements of possibility.

• What are my personal values?
  

An important element of success is being congruent in how we think and act. Reflecting on this question and becoming more conscious of what is most important to you, will allow you to empower yourself to make real changes in your life. Once your goals and plans reflect your personal values, these values will act as strong and vibrant motivators as you work to get improvements in your behaviour and performance. So again, make yourself a short list and remind yourself of what really matters most to you.

In the second part of this task and in the next post we will look in more detail at where you want to be this time next year and what you will already have achieved by the end of what you plan to be your best year yet.

Make it a great week and begin to make it a great year, it's your choice.

My best

Séamus