Screw the Resolutions! Try This Instead

It's almost the new year!  This is usually the time we prepare our New Year's Resolutions.  And we all know how well those work out 😏  We write down everything we want to change about our lives, and then we end up working on them for all of five minutes and then quickly fall back into our past habits that brought us to wanting change in the first place. 

We make the mistake of thinking we can change without actually doing any real introspection, which is key for true and lasting change.  And the other reason is that we pick resolutions that are either too hard to achieve easily (like "losing weight") or are superficial, which have no real course of action (like "be happier")  So instead, try this exercise, which not only utilizes concrete goals, but also detailed courses of action.



In order to plan where we're going in life, we need to know where we've been.  So, give yourself a block of time to answer these questions in your journal (check out the bullet journal layout here) and when you're done, you'll have a road map to who you've been, so you can see where you want to go next!

• Top 5 Achievements (big and small things you're proud of)
• 5 Challenges you've overcome (what was hard?  what are you proud of?)
• 5 Things I learned about being a better _________ (parent, woman/man, occupation, etc.)
• 5 Things I learned about myself
• 5 New or existing relationships I developed or worked on
• 5 Things I created this year
• 5 Ways I made a difference in the world
• 5 Things I had the most fun doing
• If there was a newspaper that summarized the last year of my life, what would be the headline?

Now that you've mapped out your past, use the same questions for next year to see where you're going!

• Top 5 things I want to achieve next year
• 5 Challenges I expect for next year, and how I will be prepared for them
• 5 Things I want to learn about
• 5 Ways I want to grow as a person (to be a better _______)
• 5 New or existing relationships I want to work on or leave behind
• 5 Things I want to create next year
• 5 Specific ways I will make a difference in the world next year
• 5 Fun things I want to do
• If there was a newspaper that will summarize what I want for next year, what will be the headline?

Use this exercise every December or January and keep them all in a journal so you can revisit them for years to come!




If you use this exercise, let us know below how you liked it :)