Planning For Success

As the end of the year approaches, the feeling of a fresh start and New Year Resolutions begin to dawn on us. With a new year, the opportunity of creating a new ‘you’ arises. However, it has become almost cliché that these resolutions, and the motivation that fuels them, die after an initial surge of enthusiasm. So, how can you safeguard your plans to become a healthier, more profitable and happier version of yourself? The two keys are visualisation and planning. Many of us have areas in our lives that we would describe as weaknesses, things that we struggle to maintain self-accountability for and often find ourselves self-sabotaging. When planning to conquer obstacles in these areas, it is often best to outsource and invest in an accountability partner or program. One example of this might be to ‘lock in’ to a fitness challenge or group that requires bookings and minimum attendance (usually with someone who will notice that you are not there and will contact you for a no-show), organise the delivery of fresh, healthy groceries or meals to reset the craving habits of your body, create a morning schedule with an accountability tick off list or app to help get you going in the day, etc. It also helps to sit down and write how you expect to see yourself going through these tasks on a day-to-day basis from the feeling of waking up in the morning and looking at your day plan, to the pain of the last repetition of exercise in a set. Visualise the mundane tasks and the beauty of the reward at the end – buying a new piece of clothing in your ideal size, waking up with more vitality, finishing a half-marathon, finishing a project at work – the list goes on. If you do not have a solid plan that feeds into habits to take you to your goal, you risk repeating the same mistakes and ‘losing’ motivation among the crowds of other resolutionists. What will you do to prevent this?