NEW YEAR, NEW YOU!

Bye 2019; Hello 2020! As we sign off from the last month of 2019 and gallop into the new year, many of us refelct on all that we were to achieve in this year. All the hopes and aspirations are always associated with new years. Year after year, you make new resolutions  and at the end of the year, one tries to put a checker on all that you have achieved. It’s important to also take stock what came your way in fulfilling your dreams and distracted you from your path. “You may hear yourself saying 2019 is going to be different. I am going to get more fit or my organisation will gross in the highest revenue the coming year!” With this the year begins with great aplomb and starts looking longer at the beginning but, at the end of it, like now, you really wonder where the time flew…

Strangely, this becomes a vicious cycle year after year as your priorities do not remain as priorities and everything comes in your way to fulfil your bucket list. For example, if your new year resolution to be confident, you will need to stay focused and practise speaking to the mirror for 15 minutes every day. So, making the right choices is not sufficient but sticking to them every day, every week and every year will make a countable difference to you on this last day!

A new year certainly calls for a new sense of dedication, direction, focus and motivation in your personal and professional goals. It’s a time to let go of any procrastination, resentment, frustration or complacency that has been holding you back and swap them with novel, better strategies that will help you to have a year of growth, prosperity and success in the year 2020 or simply change yourself!

When you’re thinking about the year ahead and all that you want to achieve or the ways you want to challenge yourself, it helps to be specific and make your dream be your focal point. While having high-level goals in mind (like increased self - confidence, job satisfaction, or getting a better position, or achieving more work/life balance) is a useful exercise, it’s also just as important to have a pure roadmap for how you’re going to achieve it.

Most of our resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions or are wrong for one of the three main reasons:

A resolution created under the influence of others.
It’s too ambiguous.
You don’t have an accurate plan for achieving your resolution.

Your goals or resolutions should be SMART enough to achieve it. SMART goals mean being specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. It is applicable for management, but it can also work in setting your resolutions, too. A simple example could be to work on your personality – by personality we mean confidence, communication, presentation, essential etiquettes etc.

Specific: Your resolution should be absolutely clear. They could be financial goals, weght loss targets, or career growth plans or simply travel plans of the year. “Making a concrete goal is really important rather than just vaguely saying ‘I want to gain confidence.’ You need to be specific of what change you want to see in yourself - change in your confidence or communication or your public speaking or your language.

Measurable: This may seem obvious if your goal is to build confidence or work on your communication, you need to measure your performance in terms of your reduced errors or your instances of public speaking where you seemed more confident

Achievable: This doesn’t mean that you can’t have big goals. But trying to take a bigstep or leap too largely can leave you unhappy, frustrated or affect other areas of your life to the point that your resolution takes over your life. It almost engulfs your life and lets you run out of steam in the middle of the year itself.

Relevant: Is this a goal that really matters to you, and are you making up for the right reasons? Give it a thought. How are the steps that you are taking going to help you in becoming a better version of yourself?

Time-bound. Like “achievable,” the timeline toward attaining your goal should be realistic, too. That means giving yourself sufficient time to do it with chunking down your transitional goals set up along the way.

One of our participants and a D.Pharm student, Gandhar Bam shares his take and excitement on Welcoming the New Year with a bang and setting new year resolutions for working towards a new you! Here’s what he has to say –

“Hurray! New year coming soon. Everyone must be excited for their new year's resolution. Great! But I have learnt many things from my experience that I would like to share with you all.

I always used to set extreme targets. It is absolutely true that 'Low aim is crime' but, when you want make a change in yourself then it should be practical. It's not like you wake up in the morning and you are entirely different personality. I know it must be sounding like a negative but it's not. What I want to convey is take your time, plan your calendar, organize your schedule, prepare yourself for any hurdles which may occur while reaching to your goal.

Making resolutions are easy but being motivated throughout the year is the most difficult part from my point of view. I have seen that when I don't see any changes in myself after giving so much. But that is point when you have to be strong. Which takes us to another important part that is ‘Patience and Consistency’.

When it comes to targets, people always set yearly targets. For instance, I will make best physique and abs in this year. Honestly, it has never worked for me like that. So, from this year I have decided to set daily and weekly goals. You have to be dedicated throughout the day. If everyone is ordering burger then just go for salad or soup. Those small things make huge difference in your body as well as in your personality.”

As we head into the new year, consider these strategies to reclaim your dreams and give a whole new purpose to your resolutions 2020!

One resolution at a time

 

As the new year sets in, you wish to work on million ways to turn out a better leaf. Most of the psychologists recommend that as you are ready with your templting list of 10 goals, strike down all from forth position. The ones at number one, two and three are your priorities and you can go head strong with them. You can even ask yourself, “Which one of these can give be the best impact or positive gratification?” That should do the trick! It is important that we do not try to make too many changes at once. The more the resolutions in your list, the more diluted your efforts will be.

 

 

Get out of your comfort zone

 

In the coming year, make it a point to challenge yourself at work, not just once, but on a regular, ongoing basis. This is how real growth happens – when you’re taken out of your comfort zone and forced to see through varied angles, to adapt to a changing landscape, or to learn new things. It’s time to break out of the rut and expose yourself to new ideas, new perspectives, or new people that challenge your earlier approaches and beliefs.

 

Habit is the only way

 

To get the snowball effect, you need to take those baby steps day on day. Assigning smaller wins will only make your herculean goal look as small tasks that will habituate you to wake up from bed every day. As the habit sets in, it starts affecting the behaviour and adds up to your persona. These daily behaviours are the anecdotes to procrastination and spins off a clear path.

 

 

Grow your support network

 

If you’re considering entering the job market in 2020, having a widespread network of contacts in your domain is by far one of the most valuable gears you can have. But expanding and nurturing a healthy professional network takes time and determination. You should make a point to engage in some kind of activity at least a month, either connecting with people online or in person, that helps you to build a strong network of people or resources that could be great assets in the year to come. This also adds momentum to your drive as like-minded people latch onto a healthy and focused group.

 

Inculcate gratitude

 

Gratitude can help you to keep on track! Taking note of how close you are to your goal and be grateful for these small wins. Use a checklist of all those wins that you are grateful for. Instead of counting all the things that go wrong, count all the way things that could go right and watch things transform. Turn your problems into opportunities will only energise your batteries and help you to take your goals by the horns. By focusing on what we have, we get more of that back from the universe, plus it feels great to be grateful!

  

Resolutions can be different for everyone but the consistency, focus, gratitude and dedication will remain the same for everyone as that is what drives us to achieve our goal. sContinuous evaluation will stop you from making the same mistakes year on year and stay committed to yourself as we end 2019. Don't focus on lifetime opportunity but invest more time in your life to exercise your goals. We all make choices at every beginning of the year but sticking to them relentlessly keeps us happy and above the sinking line. Never compare yourself with anybody or compete with others to sulk in conditional thoughtprocess.

Believe in yourself! Believe in your choices that loudly say, you matter! Start living each day as every day counts! Have a great 2020! A toast to new beginnings and a new ‘You’!