3 Ways To Avoid Setting Yourself Up To Fail In 2022

Once upon a time I was known as Miss Mouse. I was timid and more than happy to be in hiding. I had a penchant for chocolate and cheese (still do). Every so often I’d take a little nibble of life before scuttling back to safety having decided it was way too dangerous out there.

Life was dull; meaningless. I knew I wanted it to be different, but I didn’t want to have to be the one to change it; I wasn’t sure that I could. I was hopeful that someone might come along and make it all nicer for me.

If change was easy everyone would do it, which is why New Year’s resolutions make me cringe.  They’re a bit like deciding you’ll paint your whole house but you’re standing outside with no paint, no brush, no ladder, no plan, and no incentive.

Resolutions are shallow

The whole ‘new year, new you’ thing is predictable.

If your resolution was so important, you’d have started it the moment that you thought of it; you wouldn’t be waiting for the clock to strike midnight.

Every year more than 50% of the people who set a new year’s resolution aim to be healthier whether that’s doing more exercise or losing weight.

Most of those resolutions will have fallen by the wayside by the end of January.

Why do they fail?

Why? Because change works when you adopt an inside out approach. You need to know why it’s so important to you. You need to recognise the impact that living in a new way will have on your life, and how that will ripple out to your family, friends, employer, and even pets!

Change is an inside job. You need to change how you think. You need to understand your own personal wiring; where the connections are a bit dubious, where they’re strong and how to alter them.

Human beings are programmed to move away from pain (when it gets too much to bear) and move towards pleasure (as long as it doesn’t seem too decadent). Most of us are conditioned to seek refuge somewhere in the middle (the proverbial comfort zone); a space where you are less likely to be pitied or judged for how you to choose to live.

Three ways to avoid setting yourself up to fail

1)    When you choose to set a New Year’s resolution get crystal clear on why that matters to you. What are the consequences of low follow through? How will life change if you succeed? Get emotionally involved in your goal whatever that needs to look like for you. Know how you reached where you are now in the first place.

2)    Don’t tell anyone about your resolution if you know they are likely to project their doubt or personal insecurities onto you.

3)    Plan in advance how you will deal with any obstacles that come your way now (hint, your thinking IS likely the biggest obstacle!). 

If you’d love to create a meaningful life and business outside the daily 9-5 grind and want more than a quick fix, drop me a message or check out how we can work together.

As featured in Executive Magazine, January 2022.