Really, don’t. They’re a terrible idea, doomed to fail and certain to disappoint.
I’m probably telling you this too late, if they’re your thing. If that’s the case, best of luck. If you’ve already failed….I should have written this sooner. I could have given you another idea.
I’m certainly not against plans or improvement. Far from it, you must, and I'm a fan of both. Just don’t go for unrealistic, overly specific, unenjoyable resolutions.
Here’s three far better alternatives, and NO, it’s not too late to start!
🔶 Broad intentions
Set broad intentions for what you will do. It could be reading for personal growth, mentoring a promising member of your team, be a more confident presenter or earn more money. The main thing is to be aspirational about the things you intend to improve or do better in, but not overly prescriptive or unrealistic.
🔶 Do more, Do less
Create lists of what you'll do more of and what you'll do les off. It might be more time with family, or more time for making plans or being creative. Maybe you need to do less procrastinating or less micro managing. Use them to focus your improvement but without necessarily being as definite as 'I will' and 'I will not'.
🔶 10 achievements
It's like your bucket list of things you haven’t done but need to do or would like to do. You can write the list in advance and tick them off, but it's easier to add achievements to a list as they happen. It might be you want to join Park Run and start volunteering, and to complete a painful work task you always delay quicker than usual, and gain a promotion and a qualification. The achievements can be big or small, as long as they're meaningful to you. You could aim for 10, 20 or 50 achievements, whatever number you are comfortable with. If you hit your target you can always continue and achieve more.
My go to option is 'Broad intentions', and I always have these. I find they work better for me than resolutions, but it's whatever works for you.
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