Maintaining a New Year’s Mentality throughout the Year
By now, most people have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions. Studies have shown that only 5% of resolutions are kept beyond the end of January. That is a shocking statistic given the hope and optimism with which most people start the year and the excitement with which they embrace the opportunity to critically evaluate themselves and create a new beginning.
This interesting revelation poses some important questions:
How do we get past the urge to wait until January to set magnificent goals for ourselves when we should really be working on our effectiveness throughout the year?
How do we maintain the New Year’s mentality throughout the entire year?
Here are three tips to help you stay focused on your own growth and improvement—whether it’s January or June.
Rethink what it means to have a fresh start.
A lot of focus is placed on the start of the New Year. We see it as the ideal, if not the only time for us to create a new beginning.
But does it have to be?
Why couldn’t the start of a new day or week, or even the start of a new month be seen as the chance for a fresh start? Wouldn’t such an approach afford us more opportunities to begin anew as opposed to this one celebrated time at the start of the year?
While they may not be celebrated, new beginnings are regular occurrences in our lives. We should make sure we use each of these opportunities to reflect, change and grow.
As the American author and philosopher, Guy Finley once said, “The greatest power you possess in life is your understanding that life gives you a fresh start any moment you choose.”
So, let’s start each moment as such. Even though you may have fallen off the proverbial bike and didn’t follow through on your commitments, it doesn’t mean that you should abandon your plans and wait until next New Year’s Day to start all over. Start over now! New beginnings are about turning over a new leaf. The hope, optimism and excitement that you demonstrate on New Year’s Day can be applied to any day, any time.
Check-in with yourself frequently
The focus we put on the calendar rolling over to a New Year pushes and inspires us to spend time on self-reflection. We ponder questions such as:
What do we want the upcoming twelve months to look like?
In what ways can we improve?
What’s next for us?
It is commendable that we take the time to engage in self-reflection at the beginning of the year but there is no reason why this shouldn’t be a habit that we practice throughout.
And while we may become absorbed by our responsibilities and other distractions of everyday life, if we place value on this idea of self-evaluation, we will find the time for these periods of introspection. The best way is to schedule it. Set aside ten minutes a week, a half-hour a month, or whatever timeframe best fits your schedule to review your progress towards your goals. These appointments will help you to identify the areas where you need improvement.
Find an Accountability Partner
As the cliché goes, “No man is an island.” While the road to success can be a lonely one, it should never be traveled alone. None of us live and work in isolation. Thus, it is always to your benefit to identify someone whom you trust and respect to keep you accountable. Your accountability partner could turn out to be your best asset in your quest for success as they will hold you true to your word. They will help to keep you on track with regards to your existing goals and provide encouragement to create new ones.
Studies show that when you commit to being accountable to someone, the probability of carrying out the specific action rises to 65%. Creating a specific accountability appointment increases your odds to 95%.
Ideally, we should be focused on personal development and effectiveness throughout the year. Taking the time to regularly review our results and take corrective actions keeps us in the New Year’s mentality and on the path to personal advancement and our eventual success.