December 29, 2019
Resolutions are Evaluations…
The 1st of the Year is fast approaching, and with that comes the “Resolutions” of many People who want to Improve their Lives.
Gyms fill up, Healthy Food Stores surge in Business, everyone is on their Best Behavior (directed towards their desired Point of Emphasis) and Life is Good.
For awhile…
As we are all well aware, Resolutions tend to fade as quickly as the setting sun…
Resolutions originate from a Desire to Start or Stop, Actions, Behaviors, Patterns, etc.…
The View of our “Future Selves”, with the Benefit of the Desired Changes, is Exciting, Inspiring and downright Sexy!
It can be a compelling Reason for, and Motivator of, Change.
And when your Vision of Future is so Powerful you will do anything to Move Towards Change, you are on your way.
But that isn’t how most Resolutions work. Not at all. It is a mistake to Look Forward without understanding how you arrived at “Here + Now”.
You don’t meet with your Boss to discuss your Resolutions, nor do you spend time with your Coach to discuss only the Bright Future. You Evaluate what is “Known”, and then Plan for What’s Next…
Let’s Write your Evaluations instead of Resolutions.
New Years’ Resolutions are Evaluations of the Recent History.
Your 365-Day Opportunity Score for What you Did, or Didn’t, Do.
It is your Yearly Review, your “Check-Up”, often Personally and Professionally, to See Where You are and What Needs to Be Done.
It is a Critical, thoughtful, retrospective, that may take you back even further in time than one year. You may reflect back to a Successful Period in Your Life to Add Fuel to Your Fire of Change.
It is more Fun, at years end, to look ahead to “What Could Be” and the Idea of a “New you”. I don’t dispute this at all.
An Open Calendar of Time that is Pure with Hope, can Stimulate even the most Cynical of us all…
The proverbial “Clean Slate”, one not Corrupted by Inactivity or Emotional Angst, can Activate our Inner-Most Feelings and Propel our Attitude towards Hopeful.
But we do this by looking back, evaluating with a Cold, Objective Heart, and then Form a Plan based on what we have seen…
This New Year, Your Evaluation, you should Assess and Appraise the current “You”, and will Serve You as you begin “Improvement” over the coming Days, Weeks, etc.…
Awareness of What You Done and Become, is paramount to Success in your Development Forward…
I certainly hope you do “Resolve” to Improve.
The plain truth, however, is that most Resolutions fail, and fail quickly.
They are rooted in Faith and Hope, as opposed to Fact and Small, Consistent Behavioral Change.
A “Belief” you will Evolve doesn’t stand a chance against a Plan built around the previous version of You. We Believe in Action, and taking a new path by making New Choices is how this occurs…
Those who demonstrate a Firmness to their Decisions (when armed with solid information, i.e. Knowledge of Previous Behavior) often find a Path to Improvement much faster than those who question their own Actions (Self-Doubt is a different Animal than Self-Evaluation).
Your Resolve should be firmly rooted in Who You Are, and Moving from this Axis, and not in “Hoping for the Best”…
Regardless of your Process (we should all have a “System” in place to Make Decisions as opposed to purely Emotional Responses or Current Events), Move Forward with an Awareness of your Past: Past Behavior, Past Mistakes, Past Success, etc.,
Your Future Depends on You Creating, and Not Repeating, your Past…
Evaluate and Improve.
Happy New Year!
