To keep your resolutions, think of redesigning, not resolving

By now, most of us have already begun to slip away from those worthwhile New Year’s resolutions we made a couple of weeks ago. Many people I know don’t even bother to make resolutions because they don’t believe they’ll follow through. And yet, as my colleague Constance Dierickx points out, people do make significant changes all the time.

So how do you make your good intentions last longer than a couple of weeks? Dr. Dierickx suggests that instead of talking about resolutions, we should talk about redesigns. The latter signals action that goes beyond writing a list. 

How to make — and keep — your New Year’s resolutions

How do you go about redesigning yourself or your life for the new year? Dr. Dierickx offers these suggestions:

• Ask yourself what you want to be different in six months or a year? Go big or go specific, but focus on what you’d like your life to look like by July or December.

• Be clear about what you don’t want. That way you can take steps to avoid that outcome.

• Abandon what’s in your way. Is your life cluttered, literally or figuratively? Are you hanging on to beliefs that undermine you? Are you listening to feedback from people who lack expertise or don’t know what’s best for you? It’s time to curate your life.

• Create bumpers, those things that prevent your bowling ball from going into the gutter. These might be people who cheer you on and warn you when you’re getting off track. They might be barriers you install that make it harder for you to revert to old habits.

The good news is that we can engage in redesign at any point in the year. We can do experiments, take stock, learn from them, and then try the next thing. 

If you would like help in redesigning your life or your company this year, get in touch.