New Year’s Resolutions.
You might think we’re a bit late to the party; after all it is the 13th January. Some of you will be flying full throttle into your third week of resolution success by now.
Well, we’re here to throw a spanner into the works and suggest that whether you’re a resolution lover or hater; whether you’ve broken them, not even started them or are feeling particularly chuffed with your success this year, perhaps it’s not all about the resolutions?
Which means that if it isn’t all about the resolution itself then it isn’t too late to join in.
Setting resolutions is usually motivated by something, whether that’s an inner desire to change or an external motivation like the positive support of a friend, or even a negative comment. We set them because we want to or because we feel we should.
The thing about values is that they are ours, they’re an internal desire and when our year ahead is defined by our values we’re more likely to end up achieving what we’ve hoped for. It could be an inner desire for better health, to explore a new culture, to feel less stressed, to enjoy a slower pace of a life, to discover a faster pace of life, to be happier in yourself, to rediscover something you love. Whatever your motivation, it comes down to a you, not what someone else is expecting of you.
Another thing about values is that they can’t be broken. So today you crammed too many things on to your to do list, didn’t pop outside for that lunch time walk, said no to that social gathering that you actually really wanted to be at or shovelled a Greggs pasty in at lunch instead of making your packed lunch. Tomorrow is a new day and you can make the choice to continue working towards the values that you have set.
So this year we’d like to propose that you set your values, not your resolutions. Perhaps your value is that you want to look after your own wellbeing in 2020; as a result you might start to think about not checking work emails after you’ve left the office, turning your phone off at 9pm or going for a walk at some point every day. You can start to pick up these habits and build them into life. But if you don’t manage it one day, it isn’t a resolution broken.
We’ve been chatting in the office and we’ve all taken a different approach to our ‘resolutions’ this year.
Andy, our Director, wanted to do things to make sure that he sleeps better and reads more books instead of watching TV. So far he’s off to a slow start but his values haven’t changed; sleep is important and he wants to read more words this year.
Jo, our Marketing Manager, has a yearly routine of sitting down with her husband and writing their aims for the year. She’s specifically choosing to focus on two of those right now and pick up some healthy habits before moving onto others throughout the year.
Ben, our Education Lead, purposely decided not to make any resolutions this year but he’s found himself at the gym regularly and engaging in more self-development than he normally would have. In hindsight he has realised that he has committed to going to the gym, not because of specific goals or resolutions but because he has identified some values that have motivated his decision to go.
Why not take ten minutes today? Sit down with a cuppa, take a walk through the park, put some chilled out music on whilst you’re on the bus and think about what your values might be. How do you feel setting your year off with a set of values rather than a set of resolutions?