Are you ready for your New Year’s revolution?
No, that’s not a typo. We make resolutions, wanting to achieve revolutions.
We resolve to go to the gym, or to stop smoking, or to walk more, or to eat better…wanting a revolution in our health.
We resolve to work less on nights and weekends, or to spend more time with our families, or to find a new job with better hours, wanting a revolution in our work-life balance.
We resolve to be more selective about who we date, or to stop cheating on our partner, or to be more attentive at home, wanting a revolution in our love life.
62% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions.
8% of them are successful in achieving their goals.
We make resolutions, wanting revolutions.
Resolutions are about actions, things we will start doing, stop doing, or do differently. But if those changes in your actions are intended to produce significant shifts in your life, it is likely that you will be among the 92% who do not succeed with your revolution.
If you truly want a New Year’s revolution, you probably are already running late; I started working on mine back in the summer. I have been crafting a clear image about the outcomes that I am seeking to achieve. What does it feel like now that I have succeeded with my revolution? Where am I? What am I doing? Who is there with me?
I am engaging all of my senses, working to “embody” my new reality.
Neuroscience tells me that my brain is programmed to keep me where I am. It also tells me the power of story…a well-told story has the same chemical affect on our brain as actually experiencing the event itself. Perhaps there is more to the saying “fake it until you make it” than most of us ever believed.
My story is written. I set aside time daily to live with it, reflect on it, to “be there in the future.” I am now working on how to achieve it. When I first started working on it, I thought it was improbable at best, and more likely impossible. Now I believe it is real, achievable, “within my grasp.”
I don’t know everything that I will need to do to get there. I don’t know what obstacles I will encounter, or what mistakes I will make along the way. (There will be some, and most likely a few big ones…of that I am sure.)
I do know that I am living into my New Year’s revolution today. And January 1…I will be on my way to becoming among the 8% who succeed. Will you be joining me?
What are you doing to move from unfulfilled resolutions to achieved revolution? Comment below.