ew year, new me. We
hear it every year, and sometimes we even believe it. That when 31st December
clocks over to 1st January, we can make real changes in our lives. We can make
ourselves anew, removing the things that drag us down and add things to improve
us. The beginning of a new year, along with other milestones such as the start
of a school year or semester, a birthday or a major life event such as getting
married, a relationship breakdown or the birth of a child really do help us
mark, in our minds at least, between the "old me" and the "new
me".
So there's evidence
to suggest that when making goals about lifestyle change, the start of a new
year is as good a time as any to get stuck into it. But we also know from
observation or from personal experience, that most New Year's resolutions fail.
So how can the start
of a new year be a good time to set goals but new year's resolutions fail so
hard? I would argue that the nature of
resolutions themselves are set to set us up for failure, as well as the way in
which many of us think about failure in itself.
Resolutions tend to
be vague or focussed on the wrong thing. We either set vague resolutions, such
as, "Be nicer to my partner", or we resolve to do something and
become discouraged when we fail. When we think about failure not as an end
point, but as a step along a journey, we can then reflect on what caused us to
fail - what were the internal and external factors in ourselves, our family and
our community that impacted on our success, and thinking about the way in which
we can change those, or at least our behaviour to those things.
So firstly, I wanted to make sure my resolutions for this year were clear. Which meant throwing the idea of having resolutions in the bin. Instead of resolutions, this year I am having goals. My goals are clear, pass or fail states, but they are also aspirational - I don't expect to succeed at all of these goals all the time, but I do expect to continue to try to achieve them.
All of my
goals for the year vary in size. There's little, low effort goals and daily
tasks, but there's also big, exciting goals that need a lot of work to get
there. That means that even if I don't have the time or space to achieve
amazing things, I can achieve little things and get a mental reward for that.
My goals see me as a whole person. Rather than just focussing on my body, or my university studies, or my hobbies, I've tried to set achievable goals across the year that take me in the directions I want to go. I want to be able to manage my priorities so my university study doesn't kick everything else to the kerb as has happened in previous years.
My goals see me as a whole person. Rather than just focussing on my body, or my university studies, or my hobbies, I've tried to set achievable goals across the year that take me in the directions I want to go. I want to be able to manage my priorities so my university study doesn't kick everything else to the kerb as has happened in previous years.
My goals aren't all
fun and exciting stuff. Sure, my three big hiking adventures are very exciting,
but taking my meds is dull and important, and if I want to be able to go on
adventures I need a house that's reasonably tidy to do it from. Doing the dishes
isn't sexy by any stretch, but it is self-care.
My goals are taking
me towards the person I want to be. They are following my career aspirations
through volunteering for the Smith Family and continuing my social work
studies, they are following my fitness aspirations through volunteering for my
hiking group, as well as the boring self-care stuff.
And that, I think,
should be the way we resolve to do anything - I need to assess if a goal takes
me towards being the person I want to be.
So without any
further ado, here are my goals.
Health and Body
No Alcohol during
the week
Walk 2018km over the
year
Mental Health
Meditate daily
Take meds everyday
Hiking
Three big hiking
adventures - Walhalla, Wilsons Prom Lighthouse, Great Ocean Walk
Create 4 hiking
Vlogs
House
Do dishes every
night before bed
Ensure all the clean
laundry is folded once a week
University
Maintain or increase
WAM
Submit one
assignment early
Work at implementing
the growth mindset
Community
Lead one Hiking
Group hike per month
Post one Hiking
Group instagram pic per week
Start volunteering
as a mentor for school kids with charity
