Did you make resolution this
year? Any resolution? Losing weight, acquiring new skill, getting up early, balancing
professional and personal life or anything close to heart.
We are well over a fortnight into
the New Year. Do you still hold the resolution and are continuing with it? If
the answer is yes, chances are that you may continue it.
If you have not done any
resolution, I am with you.
I have made New Year resolutions
and often seen them crumble in the first month. I have seen this with many
people. Yet there are some who sustain them. We all see them. They may have a
discontinuity in between but they restart and continue with the resolution.
What makes them going? What is it
that gives them the strength to restart the broken chain and why is it so
difficult for others?
Here are the 5 things experts say
they do differently.
1.
They see
the big picture :
Napoleon Hill in
his famous book ‘Think and grow rich’ writes persuasively about the art of visualization.
Stephen Covey in his book ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ writes about begin
with the end in mind.
The people who
continue with their resolution demonstrate these qualities quite often. My
friend lost 17 kg and got in shape last year. She has set her target on a
particular weight she wanted to achieve (end state) and visualized being their
every day.
How do
you visualize? Believe that you have
already succeeded. Whatever is your goal, close your eyes and see yourself
achieving it. See it in as much detail as possible. Add colors, movement,
smell, taste, sound, emotions – make it seem like a live memory rather than
something you are imagining.
2. They speak out :
I have often
seen these people share their resolution with their near and dear ones. This to
my mind gives them moral binding to continue with their resolution. There are
phases in their life when they feel of giving it up, however this binding often
keeps them going.
3.
They
display consistency and commitment :
The commitment to
be consistent at a particular thing comes from what Napoleon Hill calls the burning
desire. And burning desire comes when we know where to go, which is the big
picture or the end state visualization. You see these are so very strongly
inter-connected. Distinguished professor of psychology Dr. Robert Cialdini
shares this beautifully. He says there is something that lies deep within us
that direct our actions. This is our obsessive desire to be (and to appear)
consistent with what we have already done.
4.
They look
at it as ritual :
A ritual is a series of actions
or type of behaviour regularly and invariably followed by someone.
Once they debate it out in their mind and
decide on some agenda, they try and make it a ritual. So once their mind is
conditioned and starts believing it to be the ritual, their other actions get
aligned relatively easily.
5. They value time :
This is one of the most precious resources
available with us. They understand it all the more. They prioritise things and channelize
their energies to the set priorities. This allows them to allocate the
requisite time to achieve their set resolutions.
Here is wishing you a great new
year and may you and I get the strength to realise our resolutions in this
year than ever before.
