Ron Tustin - Why Making New Year Resolutions Is A Waste Of Time!

 Read more articles from Ron Tustin.

For baby boomers and others wanting to make changes.

Greetings GrownUps,

Over the Christmas and New Year holidays no doubt some of your thoughts will have been about making 2010 a fantastic year, and invariably, many of us will have made New Year's resolutions.

The people that profit the most from New Years resolutions are the gyms, producers of weight loss products, those people who have schemes how to make money quickly etc. And consequently, the people that make the resolutions don't tend to benefit as much from their resolutions. When did you last hear someone say something like, "I started my successful business as a result of a New Year's resolution?"

I've never heard anyone say that and I suspect you haven't either. That's because resolutions are mostly based on feelings. It's the beginning of a new year and we want it to be a new beginning for ourselves as well.

I’ve talked before about how we all have that desire for change, and how important that is for our own well being. The momentum that comes from change helps propel us forward. But instead of expecting a resolution to give you this momentum here is another suggestion.

Write a Letter to Yourself

During this month make an appointment with yourself. Grab a notebook or a laptop and go to a quiet place--a café, a park or a room in your house --and write a letter to yourself as if you were writing from the future, one year from now.

In this letter, you should be as audacious as possible. Describe what you are doing a year from now and make sure what you're describing – work, house, holidays etc. --is as bold as possible. Remember we are getting older and bolder! Don't make it totally outside the realm of possibility but do make it audacious.

Remember, you are writing the letter to yourself from the future. Address the letter to yourself and sign it with your name. Remember you are the only person who will read this letter so don’t worry about grammar and writing style. The whole purpose is to get you thinking beyond mere resolutions and thinking much bigger and longer term than you normally would.

Don't restrict yourself to things like work, family life and holidays. Feel free to talk about things like new things you may need for your home and other small goals you might have. Those are important too. For example, maybe there's an expensive appliance you've wanted for some time but couldn't afford. Things like this have a place in the letter too.

After writing the letter, read it very carefully and meditate upon it. In your mind's eye visualize the things in your letter coming to pass. Then put the letter away until the next year. Resist the temptation to pull it out and read it during the year. Wait and reread it a year from now and before writing your next letter. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how close you've come to achieving the goals of the previous year--maybe you will have even surpassed some of them!

Accomplishing Goals Becomes Automatic

You certainly will have accomplished more than you would have if you had set mere resolutions that fade away by the end of January. For when you write a letter like this, you'll find yourself automatically making decisions throughout the year that will make your goals possible. This will happen without you even realizing it. For example, if I had set the goal of a trip to Queensland, throughout the year I will automatically notice ads for Queensland and would find myself making decisions to put aside money so that I can pay for the trip. It has a snowball effect!

So here’s to a very fulfilling 2010!

www.reviveandthrivecoaching.com

I have made some changes to my web site recently. You may like to check the window “Are you ready to make changes. Take the test now.”

Ron Tustin
Revive and Thrive Coaching
Read Ron's Blog
www.reviveandthrivecoaching.com
info@rtc.org.nz
Ph 0800 003679

Motivating baby boomers to see the world with fresh eyes.

Published 22nd Jan 2010

print