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A new take on resolutions: Fresh Strategies for a Successful 2025

Writer's picture: Live TrueLive True


One conversational topic that comes up this time of the year is:

What are your New Year Resolutions?

Growing up, I was accustomed to sharing this in my family. And this became automatic in early adulthood. 


However, in my time coaching others around behavior change, I've come to question whether resolutions truly improve our lives or generate breakthroughs. In my unlearning process as a recovering Type-A overfunctioning perfectionist and in reclaiming my fullest self, I’ve found new year resolutions more enslaving and depleting than constructive, and have ditched this for some years now. 


Nonetheless, this is a special time of year for new intentions and contemplating change. A clean slate, a new beginning - hopefully on the back of some rest and renewal as well. 


How can we harness our revived attention and energy in the direction of our heart’s true desires -  without leakage of energy and efforts - to maximise our success?


Based on the neuroscience I’ve learnt around goal setting and motivation, here are 4 alternatives to resolutions that I encourage folks to try on. You’ll also find examples of how I and others are already practicing them.


1️⃣ Shift from Outcomes to Intentions


Instead of thinking about outcomes and targets, think of it way(s) of being you want.

How will I be? Vs What will I do? 

What value will I honor and embody? Vs What will I achieve?


The world moves at a faster pace than we can see. Whatever outcomes and actions that we define in a goal setting exercise get outdated quickly. 


Holding fast to our intentions keeps us agile and on course with our own truth


Rather than a blind prescription of X actions, our intentions help us stay open to possibilities and capture new opportunities that we didn’t initially see.


I examine my progress against my intentions periodically, in the spirit of continuous improvement. With my intentions as an anchor, I flexibly assess and affirm the actions that are of highest leverage, and ditch those that no longer serve. Sometimes it is not the actions but the mindset that must shift. I love both the latitude and laser focus that come from leading with intentions.  


This post provides a good example of this shift. You might also crystallise your world of intentions into a pithy reminder to self - word/ mantra of the year


2️⃣ Shift from Plans to Practices


You might ask: Isn’t a practice just a fancy phrase for repetitive action?


It makes a world of difference to reframe routines as a practice.

  • The measurement of success of a routine focuses on the targets.

  • The measurement of success of a practice is showing up, with a focus on the experience.


Practice gives us room (especially women) for our on and off days - we are human beings, not robots. 


I don't always get upside down whenever practicing a yoga inversion. Sometimes I shriek and tumble into a clumsy heap! I can laugh it off because I’m practicing - showing up on the mat, focusing on a technique, which only makes me stronger and closer to my ultimate goal. I’ve played the piano since young, and I show up at the keyboard to improve and discover my personal best, not to be Lang Lang. 


That is far more motivating and enjoyable than the black-and-white of: yes or no? Did I follow the plan or not? It can be so discouraging when we don’t see the results immediately (or after a week). 


Here’s a whole community sharing their practices.


A mentor suggests looking at our practices with the lens of adding/ subtracting. What practice can I do more or less of, that moves me forward? E.g. 30 minutes before bedtime, ADD sleepy piano music and rose tea, SUBTRACT netflix.


3️⃣ Shift from Doing to…


The former me who declared New Year resolutions was a mindless product of a world obsessed with vanity metrics that invite inevitable comparisons. My disavowal of resolutions reflects a personal transformation, where the self-talk channel is tuned to intrinsic worth, kindness and encouragement, rather than rabid achievement-seeking chants of “more, more, more”. 


Growth mindset recognises that progress sometimes looks like 

  • Relinquishing expectations

  • Saying no to “the next thing”

  • Doing less

  • Just because I can, doesn’t mean I should.


Like these women, examples of Not Doing Anymore or Making space


What do you truly want to be able to say and believe about yourself, at the end of the year? Only when we tune out the noise of expectations, can we hear our heart's desire on this one.


4️⃣ Shift the timeframe


Instead of a year to achieve a long list of changes, break those changes into subsets, and over shorter streaks of time - or sprints.


I have similar views about both resolutions and multi-tasking. For those of us who have care responsibilities (downwards and/or upwards), it is overwhelming to work on more than a handful of things at once. 


Setting ourselves deadlines for a narrower subset of goals helps to focus us. When we create wins, they motivate us to work on the next subset. 


For those with ADHD-traits (e.g. procrastination, trouble following through), deadlines (with external accountability) might be the only things that get us going. Resolutions get old and dreary fast. There is something inexorably restrictive about doing the same thing every day for the whole year. Similarly, there is no urgency with a luxurious 365 days to sort out 2 decades of family photos. Harnessing novelty factor as a powerful motivator helps to move me into action, because I know: come next month/ quarter, I will be playing new games.


In truth, change is available to us in every moment. Your future self doesn’t need to wait for the next calendar year/ cycle to make a change for the better. You can start anytime.


Know that each goal will have its reasonable timeline, in the context of your life. 

What is the timeframe that keeps things fresh for you?

What is the streak / duration that works for your goal?


The secret sauce


The way 2024 turned out for me - fulfilling on some breakthroughs, unimaginable at the start of the year - affirms all of these alternative approaches. 2 important ingredients that supported me:


Measurement

Figuring out what to measure, when.


For 9 months last year, I tracked weight, movement and everything I ate daily. Now that I’ve seen change (70% to my target!) and my healthy habits and mindset are sustainable, entrenched and reliable, I no longer find this granularity helpful. It’s great to be free of the ball and chain, which I know is available to me anytime I want a feedback loop.  


Word of warning: not everything can be measured so let it be one of, not the only, data point of change. 


Accountability

The complement to measures.


We need a practice and space to review the data, reflect on its insights, and adjust. I have a regular DIY practice, and for the harder stuff, it is invaluable to have buddies, experts, co-conspirators.


What are the areas where external accountability would support you?


Here are my desires for 2025


Aligning with the 4 approaches above...

 

2025 would be an amazing year if


1️⃣ Intentions/ Values

  • I embody joy, curiosity, service.


2️⃣ Practices/ Experiences

  • I savoured something every day.

  • I experienced flow in every aspect of my life.

  • I sleep 7.5 hours on average, with ease and enjoyment


3️⃣ NOT chasing a long lists of target accomplishments, but rather, the ultimate prize

  • I break through something at work, home, and in my creativity. I don't know what they are and don't feel the need to define them upfront. I do know they will come - and can’t wait to discover what those will be!

  • I have never loved myself more.

  • I have never felt worthy, complete and whole as a person as consistently as I have this year.


4️⃣ Sprints

For the first time,

  • I have projects lined up till June, and have triangulated intentions for Q3.

  • I am finalising the year's travel in January. They happen to break the year into nice quarters, which fuels each sprint with the promise of pleasure and joy for my efforts.


over to you...

What are your intentions for 2025?
What practices do you commit to, and why?
What do you want to be able to say and believe about yourself, at the end of the year?

Take a quiet hour to crystallise these and document them. Screen saver, vision board, notebook... it's not the form, but the act, of giving life to these that will seed a fruitful year ahead for you.



financial freedom seeker, wellness seekers, goal-setting strategies, mindful goal-setting


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