Happy New Year
It's the time that many people traditionally set New Year Resolutions and Goals.
So perhaps it's a good time to Set Retirement Goals too.
This needn't be because you want to retire “tomorrow”, but if you take a moment to reflect on it, you could find that whenever you do want to retire, there's going to be a big difference between the life-style that will be forced upon you, and the life-style you were dreaming of.
Retirement Goals
It's really for YOU to select your own goals, but here are a few that may appeal to you:
- Just put your feet up – fine, but you may get bored faster than you think
- Be a lady (or gent?) who lunches
- Throw yourself into your favorite hobby
- Start a new hobby – maybe arts / craft and possibly selling the fruits of your labor
- Write a book
- Learn a new language
- Travel more frequently to exotic destinations
- Pursue a lifelong ambition to start your own business
All these are fantastic aspirations, but if you don't have a plan and motivation to get started, enthusiasm can rapidly fall away. Unfortunately, according to research published last year in the Independent:
Research conducted by Strava, the social network for athletes, has discovered that Friday January 12 is the fateful day when your motivation may begin to falter.
We have all done it. We make New Year resolutions, maybe struggle to keep them for a few days, make ourselves miserable and then lapse into our old habits.
How To Keep Every New Year Resolution
Sure, we may keep a few of these resolutions during our life but, for most, it is a losing battle. But I have the formula to ensure that you can keep every resolution without fail.
We can all benefit from this simple procedure. The key lies in that word ‘resolution’. When we make these promises to ourselves, we should drop the ‘re’ bit of the word and concentrate on the ‘solution’.
Many of my clients benefit from this simple change to their thinking. Consider why people make resolutions. It is usually because there is some aspect of their life that they want to change for the better. Then, instead of focusing on the great benefits that they will achieve, they focus on what they are giving up so, of course they fail.
In this life you attract whatever it is that you think about most. If you think about negative words like giving up, stopping, doing less or changing something that you have enjoyed for years, then it is inevitable that your subconscious will rebel to ensure that it does not happen.
What To Do Instead
Instead of thinking about resolutions, think about solutions. Think about how you will look, feel and sound when you have found the solution. Instead of thinking about what you may be giving up, think about what you will gain. Remember too that there is no success or failure; there is only a result. Don’t beat yourself up if the first result is not what you planned, just change something and start again.
Why Do So Many People Get Results They See As Failure?
There are three main reasons.
- People try to change the habits of a lifetime overnight and the human mind and body don’t work like that.
- Another is that they attempt to do it alone. The help and support of a non-judgemental and uncritical third party is crucial to a good outcome.
- Finally – one most likely to be specific to the Northern Hemisphere – we may be trying to achieve results that will make us miserable (lose weight, quit smoking etc) at a time of year when daylight is scarce and we feel miserable anyway.
Many coaching clients think that setting a resolution is all that's needed. I often spend the first coaching session getting them to fully appreciate why they choose what they choose and to examine their commitment to the change. Then I challenge them to define strategies for creating the change with small action steps that will bring them gradually closer to their goals.
Achieving solutions begins with setting them correctly and then having support to make them happen in a time-scale that the body and mind can and will accept.
