The New Year confetti has settled and the momentum has fizzled out on your resolution. Now that we are 2 weeks into the year, it’s time to get real and honest with ourselves. Look around and you see life somehow returned to the way it was last year. The resolution you declared with so much passion, the one you swore up and down you were going to stick to no matter what, has been thrown aside like that unwanted Christmas gift. Every year we make these resolutions, yet they don’t seem to work. They come in as boldly as the New Year with promise of instant change but somehow they fade away as if they never happened.
There is a reason resolution fade away as soon as the New Year confetti settles. It is simple when you think about it. Big, sudden, forced changes do not last. Just like the big sudden change of your in-laws coming into town and staying with you for the holidays, it’s simply too much stress to last forever. Another way to look at big changes is to imagine stretching out a rubber band. A rubber band cannot stay stretched unless you continue to put stress on it or that forced stretch will either break the rubber band or frees itself by snapping far away from your fingers. Resolutions are big dramatic changes and shocks to your reality that cause a great amount of stress. You didn’t train, lay some groundwork or prepare yourself before the big day.
However, what if there was a way to make big, bold changes in your life this year? The change you have been promising yourself but always seem to slip out of your grasp. You can have that kind of change and at the end of the year you will look back to see and celebrate how far you have come.
How?
By taking small, purposeful steps every day. Small incremental shifts make sustainable changes possible. One small shift every day, from now until the end of the year will multiply your chances of making your dreams come true. Think about that for a moment – 1 small shift. A small step every day to get you from here to the end of the year is easier than attempting to jump from January to December in one giant leap! Imagine how awesome your life will be after 365 small shift.
If you aren’t sure where to start or what small step to take, allow me to share my secret with you. This changed everything for me a few years ago. It is simple and you will get better and faster results than you imagined. All you need to do is ask yourself a simple question: What is the next right action I can take? Simple questions produce powerful results. You do not need to know all the steps or have all the pieces figured out – just do the next right action. What a relief! I find this especially powerful when I notice I have gone off track. Instead of beating myself up and stressing myself out, I simply stop, take a deep breath and lovingly ask myself; what is the next right action I can take? Works like a charm. Added all up, those little steps build up a ton of unstoppable momentum.
Here is a bonus secret for even faster results. Every time you do that next right action, celebrate. I like to do a little happy dance when no one is watching (ok I do happy dances even when people are looking)! Even a smile to yourself is a private celebration. Whatever makes you feel all warm and fuzzy or excited do it! Also keeping a daily or weekly journal of all your wins is a great way to celebrate. Journaling is an awesome practice and you will be able to look back over the year at all the little steps you took that added up to your big change. Then you will really want to do that Happy Dance.
This year, once the confetti has settled, you have your plan to stay on track. You are prepared. You are ready to take on that big, bold resolution: One small, next right step at a time.
The Place of Insight 