A Backwards Look at Making Your New Year’s Reso’s – From Values to Actions

 

Tomorrow. New Year’s Eve.

Everyone is talking about goals and resolutions and transformations and commitments. And some people are even arguing over what to call ‘em. 

Whatevah. It’s all good. I couldn’t care less about the semantics.

Just the fact that you’re thinking about wanting to better yourself and your life next year is pretty sweet.

Problem is, we often base our New Year’s reso-goal-mmitments on how we failed last year, on what we think we should and ought to be doing, and on random willynilly things that other people want us to do.

We don’t spend much time thinking about WHY we want the things we want.

You want this year to be different, Don’t you? Read on.

 

I propose a different way

This year, you’re gonna start with a solid foundation. You’re gonna get really super duper clear on the heart and soul of who you are, and base your 2012 goals around honoring your values.

YOURS. (Not someone else’s).

Right.

Let’s get to work.

 

Values

Your values, your principles, your own personal owner’s manual for how you live your life. Your values are what you stand for, and what you would die for. They’re your mojo.

Honoring your values = true integrity = a fulfilling and happy life.

When you live a life of obligation, of other people’s expectations, of shoulds and woulds and oughttas, it feels pretty crappy.

Plain and simple – you’ve gotta know your values if you’re gonna live ‘em.

I could give you a list of values and you could pick the top 10 that you feel are important to you, but that would be so boring. When you look at a list of values, don’t you sort of feel like you should want to have all of them?

Integrity? Yes please.

Humor? Oh yeah?

Co-operation? Sign me up.

And what about those values that don’t sound so hot?

Power. Wealth. Fame.

Nooo, that’s surely not you.

 

When choosing from a list of values, you end up with insignificant words that don’t really mean anything to you.

Not on my watch.

We’re working backwards, kids. We want to pinpoint values that are really important for you, right now, in your current life. I don’t want a cookiecutter list, values that belong to society or your family or you when you were 10 years younger.

We’re going for wildly personal here.

 

No judgments about what you want.

No holding back from being honest with yourself.

No needing to “get it right” to look good or fit in.

 

Figuring Out Your Values

SIt back.

Relax.

And take a few minutes to identify a PEAK moment in your life. A time when life was just plain KICKING ASS – you felt alive, you felt fulfilled, you felt like life should always be this way. Be sure to pick a specific moment (rather than, say, that year you spent drinking buckets on a beach in Thailand).

Looking at this experience – what values were you honoring?  Pay close attention to:

What was happening?

Where were you/what was the scenery like?

Who were you with?

How did you feel?

What values were being honored in that moment?

And seriously, stop stressing about finding the perfect word. In fact, get a lil’ wild and just make up your own word. If you can’t nail it down, write a few words to describe the feeling.

Write down at least 5-10 values that you were honoring during that peak moment in your life.

…

…

…

 

Got em? Good. These are your core values. Don’t forget em.

Moving on…

 

Look at your life right now

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