Most of us know that making New Year's resolutions doesn't work. Over the years we vow to exercise, eat better, save more money, work harder, quit smoking. But life happens, holidays end and soon other things take away our attention.
I believe that we resist making positive changes because it all sounds so negative and a lot like drudgery: diet, exercise, quit smoking. Who wants drudgery? Life is too short for drudgery.
So, why not make New Year's promises that are fun, easy to keep and good for us instead? Here is how:
First, take five minutes to write down a Bucket List of all the things you would like to experience, buy and accomplish.
For example:
Fall in love
Write a book
Buy a home
Retire and Travel
Sail around the world
Write everything that comes to mind. Keep adding ideas to this list no matter how unrealistic or crazy.
Next, go through your list and at the end of each line add the year in which you want to accomplish that goal.
Like this:
Fall in love - 2022
Write a best selling book - 2023
Buy a home - 2025
Retire and Travel – 2030
Sail around the world – 2035
Soon, you'll realize three things. The first one is that you are having fun. The second one is that you want everything now, this year if not this month. And the third is that you'll start sorting out your priorities. For example if you have a good job now, you might focus on making lots of money first and retire in five/ten/twenty years. Or if you don't have a good job and you love to travel more than anything, you decide to take a year off to CouchSurf and do Workaways. Hey, you might even crew on a sail boat in Greece and meet your soul mate while traveling. Finally, post your list where you can see it every day.
Your assignment for today:
Take five minutes and make your list now. Post it where you can see it.
