Reflect and Renew - Upgrade your New Year Resolutions

Reflect and renew is a great upgrade to the dated act of a New Year’s Resolution.  

A resolution is a false promise of a new beginning—often crushed within a few days of the year commencing. Why? Because the act itself is flawed. A bold commitment to lose weight by eating less, or to stop consuming coffee by the gallon is whimsical and ill-thought-out.

But every year, with the changing of a digit we surrender ourselves to the aspiration of a new year resolution or two. The version in our heads rarely matches reality. Instead, the outcome tends to look like the distorted reflection we see in a fairground mirror.

How can you change this outcome?

Two words spring to mind—reflect and renew, two critical steps which should always be a part of your decision-making process.

Reflecting on the year gone by, question the place you find yourself in today.

• What did you want to achieve at the beginning of the year?
• Have you achieved your goal? If you have – why and how did this happen?
• What works so you can repeat it?

If you didn’t achieve your goal – why not? What would have helped?

From this process of reflection, you will find some principles of behaviour. It is these you must renew and use as the platform for the year ahead as you adapt your goals for the year ahead.

Reflection and renewal will serve you far better than a new year's resolution.