We are pleased to welcome back Joseph Chivayo to Leader-Connect and, in this article” Joseph discusses the “New Year, New Me” slogan and how you can improve your chances of succeeding – thank you Joseph.
The start of the year presents a special opportunity to reset and ensure we are moving in the right direction. This is fertile ground for starting new healthy habits, stopping old unhealthy ones, taking on new challenges and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone. A lot of people make promises or resolutions which they stick to for 3 to 4 months but soon revert to auto pilot and move back into same old trajectory. A recent sample study by Forbes UK found almost one in six people stick to their resolutions for four to six months, another 9% persist for six to nine months and only 6% persist for nine to twelve months. Now it’s important that when we decide something is a priority, we become part of that 6%. Its critical to focus on those priorities for the entire 2024 and see what happens. Here’s 3 simple ways to make sure you don’t only make your resolve at the start of the year but make this decision at any point, make it stick and stay on track now and forever.
1. Never postpone for tomorrow what you can do today.
One of the greatest illusion we have is thinking tomorrow is guaranteed. If we want to do something sometimes it’s easier to say I will start tomorrow. But the only guarantee you and I have is this moment. Every passing moment says do it now. If you want to tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them, do it now. You want to start a healthy eating lifestyle, write a book, read a book, grow your business, or complete an assignment. Do it now. So instead of looking at the start of the year as a perfect moment to start doing something or move away from something holding you back. Make today that moment and be consistent with your decision, follow through each day and remind yourself that sticking to that way of life will bring the desired results. Make the most of the daily 24-hour blessing that you have and never take any moment for granted.
2. If we don’t stop, we will never go through the pain of starting again.
I’ve learnt very quickly if we don’t stop doing the right thing then we don’t have to restart. So, if you enjoy eating healthy, there is no need to go crazy over Christmas then starve yourself in January. Or go crazy on binge food at the weekend then struggle on Monday. As a personal trainer I noticed some of my clients would switch off in December then try to start again in January. This was always tough because many other priorities come into play and the body switches off but if we maintain the consistency, even if it means one or two sessions a week. We keep the body and mind moving and when you start bringing back the heat, your body is already used to the work and it’s not as difficult. Think of your lifestyle as a burning fire, sometimes your fire is blazing at other times it’s sizzling but if you switch the fire off all together it’s harder to start the fire again as opposed to adding a few logs when we already have the fire burning. Don’t switch off your fire.
3. Birds of a feather flock together
I’m a strong believer if we want to be wise you spend time with wise people, we read books that encourage us to see a new perspective and step out of our comfort zones. However sometimes a new year could be a perfect opportunity to spend time reading about the pain and suffering around the world, the tough economic landscape and challenging personal circumstances. There is no shortage of bad news, just turn the telly and you are sucked in. When we immense ourselves in sad situations through watching the difficulties our peers go through, we go through that pain with them. If we spend time listening to people complain or self loathe it’s only a matter of time, we start doing exactly that. There’s nothing wrong with offering a listening ear when a friend is going tough or difficult time and it’s important to support each other through these moments but if this is a default mode and they are happy when sad this can take its toll on you. It takes a lot of energy and time to resist the temptation to not do the same. The same principle applies to spending time with people who are full of zest, people
who never take anything for granted, people who always know no matter how dark it gets, the sun will rise again. Iron sharpens iron meaning we must spend time with people who will bring the best out of us. Sometimes we must critically look at what we are listening to, who is in our ear, what are we watching and who are we spending time with. There is nothing wrong removing yourself from drama and choosing positive energy.
Once you make these choices today and stick with them on a daily basis I can assure you, you will notice changes to your life, and you will achieve the objectives you set yourself. With those few reflections, I’m off to see how I’m getting on with my resolutions. Please try these out and see how you get on in 2024. Feel free to let me know how you get on. That picture was taken by my son in the Peak District, it was exceptionally windy, but we loved the fresh air. We walked up the Roaches. Amazing place.
Bio:
Joseph works for DWP as a senior policy advisor, legal background, and personal trainer. Volunteer adult instructor in Army cadets supporting the delivery of Initial Officer Training. You can find more about Joseph on LinkedIn.