Contents
The ingenious technique to not forget your 2020 resolutions at the end of January
personal development
Think about what you want and not the process to get it. You will see that it is more motivating
If the year lasted a week January would be a Monday. And on Mondays there are many things to do that are left for Tuesday or that are definitely left. What to do to prevent this from happening? Very simple, it is not a question of magic, but of trick. Do you remember when as a child you wrote the letter to the Three Wise Men? Your parents insisted that you write clearly what you wanted, they weren’t fortune-tellers and they needed to understand what you asked for. When you grow up, you don’t have to be so strict with calligraphy, but with clarity. And clarity is in talking about goals, do not give processes,, because the goals motivate in the long term and the processes do not.
For example, you don’t have to ride a camel to “guess” that en most New Year’s resolutions is “lose weight.” Error. You don’t want to lose weight, you want to be slim, which seems the same, but no.
When you think of thin you think about giving up alcohol, french fries, you think about going for a run or the gym or eating brisket with lettuce. In short, you think about things that you feel like and that you cannot do, or about things that you do not feel like but that you have to do. Nevertheless, If instead of thinking about losing weight, you think about being slim, you smile. You think about how good those jeans that you haven’t worn in a couple of years would look on you, or how light it would feel. Nothing to see. That’s why it’s important think about what you want and not the process to get itBecause it is much more motivating, and the more motivating the goal we set, the more likely we are to achieve it.
Look for motivating purposes
So the first step to maintaining your resolutions throughout the year is seek motivating purposesIn other words, being slim instead of losing weight, speaking English instead of studying English, living healthy instead of quitting smoking… and so on.
Once we have given the proper purpose, the most important thing remains: “Question” it throughout the year. And by questioning it I do not mean to ask ourselves if it is right for us or not, by questioning it I mean to ask ourselves the right questions. Throughout the day we have about 60.000 thoughts. Most of them are questions: “Do I get up now or in five minutes?”, “Am I going by car or bus?” … The problem is that most of the questions we ask ourselves are automatic and not very specific. And it is not the same to ask myself “What do I want to eat?” “What can I eat that is tasty but healthy and helps me stay slim?” Our life is the result of the questions we ask ourselvesThat is why we must choose very well what we want to ask ourselves.
So if we want our New Year’s resolutions not to expire like yogurts we only have to do two things: choose them very well (talk about the goal and not the process) and choose them every day, because quit smoking or lose weight or whatever. They are not the result of one big decision, but the result of thousands of small decisions that are easier to make if we ask ourselves the right questions. And you, are you willing to keep your resolutions for the year until December?
- Diana Orero, a specialist in identity and narrative strategy, is the author of «Everything Counts. Find out how to tell (you) better stories ». She is also a teacher and director of Stellium.es.