NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS

New Year, New me. That’s how the quote goes. With the winds of 2016 blowing in, most of us have gotten into “resolution” mode and hoping to make this year THE year, by setting objectives and goals. Setting an objective will depend a lot on your personal choices and beliefs. In the business world, the concept of S.M.A.R.T objectives, being the acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely is quite widespread and goal setting is encouraged to go in the same direction. While the definition of the acronyms sometimes varies, the message conveyed is essentially the same and this benchmark is a great tool to get started. ? However, what is achievable depends mainly on circumstances, and change being the one constant, the definition of what is achievable then seems to reside somewhere in a somewhat grey area. Most of us will be familiar with this meme on social media: People do set objectives and meet them so why can’t most of us. One of the reasons could be the How. Trying asking people who meet their objectives (the ones who don’t just get lucky) and it is very likely that they have developed a certain way of doing things. ?A habit.?The How. ?So why not move the focus away a bit this year and concentrate on the How.? ?We are not saying Goals and Objectives are not important. However, focusing solely on goals is not entirely sustainable and does not cohabit with long term progress. More than often, it makes things very stressful and failing short sometimes makes you lose motivation and give up. Working on a habit leading up to these goals proves more efficient and actually easier. ?Let’s say your objective is to reach a certain ideal weight (It is apparently THE New Year Resolution for most people). Initiating a repeated exercise routine will prove more effective and will allow you to keep that weight than focusing on the weight itself. Habits are repeatable, and we know that practice makes perfect. By keeping your focus on what you do daily, you can start small and move at an incremental rate and allow time to assess yourself to make progress. For instance, to boost up your productivity, it is advised to develop strong morning habits. These can include waking up early, exercise, a balanced breakfast and planning your day. Try committing to these and review your performance towards your goals and objectives. This will also help you build a strong foundation to get you where you want to reach. A strong foundation will offer you support to pick yourself up if you fall. A weak and loose foundation may allow you to make short term progress but will either crumble at one point or leave you stuck without any options of moving forward. 2016 is a new beginning, an opportunity to build on what is already here and strengthen your foundation. Take time and build a strong foundation on which you can rely, and others can too by developing good habits. Wishing you all a very Healthy, Happy and Sustainable New Year. Part time law lecturer/trainer and consultant – Member of the Rotary Club of Mahebourg and the Port Louis Hub of the Global Shapers Community