Tired of Making the Same Promise Every January?
Before You Set the Goal, Try Asking This First…
As the end of the year approaches, it’s tempting to start making plans.
Plans to drink less, get fit, and maybe be more organised.
And for a week or two, we do.
We make all the right promises, go hell for leather and end up losing steam by the second week of January.
So why is it that plans built in the moment rarely survive the mood in which they were made?
Because they often come from guilt, comparison or pressure.
And when the emotion wears off, as it always does, the resolve collapses with it.
This week, I want to offer something sturdier than a resolution.
A practice worth doing before the year ends
Have a go at changing the goal to a reason
Say your first answer is
“I want to drink less”
Ask yourself
And why does that matter to me?
You might get
“Because I don’t like how I feel when I drink too much”
Ask again
Why does that matter?
Maybe it’s
“Because I’m tired of waking up full of regret and anxiety”
Keep going.
At some point, you’ll find a line that hits you in the chest.
Something that feels true.
Deeply true and perhaps a little unsettling.
And that’s a good thing
It might sound like
“Because I don’t want to live another year performing someone I’m not.”
Or
“Because I want to stop breaking promises to myself.”
Those are the kind of reasons that don’t dissolve with the first hard day.
That’s what helps us through February and beyond
This week’s question:
What are your deeper reasons for thinking about change next year?