What’s your New Year’s resolution?

I asked someone this the other day and their response was, “I don’t need a new year to start changing my life”. Touché!

That got me thinking.

The end of the year usually involves reflecting on the past year’s achievements and setting some goals for the year ahead. But why should we wait a WHOLE YEAR to do this?

How about assessing your life every month? Every week? Or even better…every single day.

The idea of settling big goals can be quite daunting. Finding a new job, losing weight or going travelling doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes planning and requires doing something small every day to make something happen.

Make a new day’s resolution instead

First off, think about your long-term goals. Write a list and stick it somewhere obvious in your room, so these are always on your mind.

Then, every night before you go to sleep, think about your day. Acknowledge what you did towards your goals (even if it’s a small thing) and think about what you want to get done tomorrow.

That might go something like this.

Today I:

• went to yoga;
• managed to refuse a biscuit at work; and
• put some money away to save up for that holiday to Japan.

Tomorrow I’ll:

• get up early to go running;
• finish off that blog post I didn’t get round to doing today; and
• cook a healthy meal and save the leftovers for another day.

This mindful process will allow you to praise yourself for your daily achievements – a very positive thing in itself – as well as motivate yourself to get the most out of the next day…

…to make each day count.