IN Resolution

If you’ve tried to make changes to your life before and haven’t succeeded, try looking at it from a different perspective.

It’s a new year and with it comes the promise of a clean slate and a second chance. Change seems easy and so the tradition of making a New Year’s resolution remains popular.

The top three resolutions we make regularly are to lose weight, pay off credit cards and quit smoking. Laudable goals, but the fact is that only 5 – 10 per cent of people who made a New Year’s resolution will actually achieve it.

Susie Vergers, business coach and founder of Change Creators, says the reason why New Year’s resolutions commonly fail is due to the mechanics of the change process used.

“Failure in achieving goals and resolutions is not due to a lack of will-power or commitment,” she says. “Doing things the same way over and over again and hoping for a different result is the problem. True change requires you to approach the things you want to change in a significantly different way than you have done before.”

Susie suggests three ways to better achieve your resolutions:

1. Think differently about what you really want to achieve: If you think you need to lose weight, stop smoking, drink less or go to the gym more, better health, more vitality or more energy is probably what you really want. Once you understand your deeper motivations take another look at how you can achieve the goal. For example, if your new goal is being healthy, then there are a range of options available to achieve better health. Options that are best suited to your lifestyle, budget and personal preferences have a greater chance of working in the longer term.
   
   
2. Stick with the tension: In any change process there is a conflict set up between the new way and the old way. You have set a goal for a stronger financial position but the part of you which loves the comfort of the old way says “just charge it, it’s only $50”. This tension is a natural – albeit uncomfortable – part of change. While this tension can doom a change effort, be patient and persistent. When the inner conflict and the tension it creates are overcome, change can come quickly.
   
   
3. Learn about change: Most of us have never been taught about the mechanics of change. When you understand there are normal progressions in any change process you can avoid the pitfalls. The following books might well help: Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (by Chip and Dan Heath), Path of Least Resistance and Creating (by Robert Fritz) and Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organisations (by John Kotter and Dan Cohen).

So this year try thinking differently about the things you want to change, because you never know what true change you might achieve!
www.changecreators.com.au