Every year instead of telling yourself you’re going to do this thing or that thing this year look at who you are and think about who you want to be. All year every year you should be striving to be that person not just January 1st. Instead of waiting for an arbitrary day to try and change, make a plan that overcomes the difference between the you now and the ideal you. Then instead of resolutions every year use it as a moment of self-reflection trying to identify how you failed, and how you can better approach your changes. There’s nothing wrong with failure, usually, if you can use it to learn and grow. Accept that you can make mistakes if you can objectively allow yourself to grow from them. In example if you want to run one mile everyday it may be too difficult to just do that right now. Instead run what you can and over time add onto how much you run every day. It may take weeks or even months but with constant effort it will come. With that constant effort comes a constant drain on your energy and motivation. So, pick effort that’s achievable and build up.
Instead of expecting yourself to just be immediately better because the calendar went up a number examine the ways you can plan for that change over the year. Then every year re-appraise that plan and whether it needs to be more or less ambitious, more or less taxing, more or less important. Every day is a chance for improvement and acknowledging the best way to change and planning around that is more effective than just changing all at once.
(If you’re a reader the books Atomic Habits by James Clear and Designing the Mind will help identify, create, and improve those plans more than my little spiel.)
ooglykraken 