 |
| Sailing in the BVIs |
Most
of us know that making New Year's resolutions doesn't work. Over the
years we vow to exercise, eat better, save more money, work harder,
quit smoking. But life happens, holidays end and soon other things
take away our attention.
I believe that we resist making positive changes because it all sounds so negative and a lot like drudgery: diet, exercise, quit smoking. Who wants drudgery? Life is too short for drudgery.
So, why not make New Year's promises that are fun, easy to keep and good for us instead? Here is how:
First, take five minutes to write down a Bucket List of all the things you would like to experience, buy and accomplish. For example:
I believe that we resist making positive changes because it all sounds so negative and a lot like drudgery: diet, exercise, quit smoking. Who wants drudgery? Life is too short for drudgery.
So, why not make New Year's promises that are fun, easy to keep and good for us instead? Here is how:
First, take five minutes to write down a Bucket List of all the things you would like to experience, buy and accomplish. For example:
- Fall in love
- Write a book
- Buy a home
- Retire and travel
- Sail around the world
Write
everything that comes to mind. Keep adding ideas to this list no
matter how unrealistic or crazy.
Next, go through your Bucket List and at the end of each line add the year in which you want to accomplish that goal. Like this:
Next, go through your Bucket List and at the end of each line add the year in which you want to accomplish that goal. Like this:
- Fall in love - 2017
- Write
a best selling book - 2018
- Buy
a home - 2019
- Retire
and Travel – 2020
- Sail around the world – 2021
Soon,
you'll realize three things. The first one is that you are having
fun. The second one is that you want everything now, this year if
not this month. And the third is that you'll start sorting out your
priorities. For example if you have a good job now, you might focus
on making lots of money first and retire in five/ten/twenty years. Or
if you don't have a good job and you love to travel more than
anything, you decide to take a year off to CouchSurf and do Workaways. Hey, you might even crew on a sail boat in Greece and
meet your soul mate while traveling...
Next, make a table like this:
Next, make a table like this:
2017
|
Fall
in love
Make more money Learn to sail Take a writing course |
2018
|
Write
a book, become a millionaire
|
2019
|
Get
married, buy a home, have a family
|
2020
|
Retire
and travel, buy a sailboat
|
2021
|
Sail
around the world
|
...
|
-
and so on...
|
Ok,
so this could be a 20 or even a 40 year plan for you – it depends
on how old you are now. You might also find that you tend to be more
specific earlier on in your planning and less so in the future. It's
all good.
Next, make a new table for this year with two columns and 12 rows. Fill in all the things that you already have scheduled such as weddings, birthdays, appointments for surgery, conferences... Then take the items you hope to do this year and enter them into the monthly slots adding some ideas of how you can accomplish this. Like this:
Next, make a new table for this year with two columns and 12 rows. Fill in all the things that you already have scheduled such as weddings, birthdays, appointments for surgery, conferences... Then take the items you hope to do this year and enter them into the monthly slots adding some ideas of how you can accomplish this. Like this:
January
|
Fall
in love:
sign up for LoveSail online dating,
create
a killer profile. Send a message to 10 prospects.
Make more money: put credit card in the freezer. Return gifts you don't want. Make own coffee – you never meet people at Starbucks anyway. Write a best seller: Create a blog for you book to be. Remember to add the high school grade A in English to you profile. Read “On Writing” by Stephen King. Learn to sail: sign up for swimming lessons at the local pool. (you might even meet someone there) |
February
|
Be
open to love: Ask one person for a date. Give a gift on
Valentine's Day to someone. Anyone – even your mother. Invite friends
and/or family for a pot luck dinner. Make an easy dish using a
recipe from Greece.
Increase net worth: Send minimum payment and an extra $100 you saved by not buying coffee to credit card people. Invest the remaining $20 you saved on a Learn to Sail book from the Guardian Bookshop. Write a book: Update blog. Join a writer's group. Learn to sail: borrow a book from the library on sailing around the world. Put name down for a dinghy sailing course in summer. Buy a swimming pass for one month. Walk to the pool. |
March
|
Be
open to love: Ask the friendly woman/man from the swimming
pool for a coffee. Invite friends and/or family for a pot luck
dinner. Make a healthy dish using a recipe from Spain.
Increase net worth: Take leftovers from Sunday pot luck dinner to work for lunch. Send minimum payment and an extra $150 you saved by not buying coffee or lunch to credit card people. Once the credit card is paid off, deposit the same amount into your “Buy a house/sail boat” savings account. Ask for a promotion and a raise. Write an advice blog: Update blog. Write coherent comments on The Guardian website. Read one of them in front of your writing group. Learn to sail: Buy a swimming pass for three months. Get a swimming badge. Walk up and down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. |
April
|
Increase
net worth:
Send an opinion
article to The Guardian.
|
May
|
Family
reunion – Brother's wedding. Invite someone you like. Smile.
|
June
|
Learn
to sail class. Join dinghy sailing club.
|
July
|
Help
out with the sailing club.
|
August
|
Take your girlfriend/boyfriend sailing.
|
September
|
Get a set of Greek language CDs or check out free lessons online.
Learn one word per day.
|
October
|
Sign
up for Netflix and watch movies in Greek.
|
November
|
Take
a sailing navigation course.
|
December
|
Propose
to your soulmate.
|
Now,
doesn't that look more exciting than: go on a diet, exercise, quit
smoking, and pay off debts? Yet, as you can see in January, you've
tricked yourself into healthy eating (some take-out coffees have 400
calories), exercise and increasing your net worth as steps towards fun
goals of buying a house, retiring, traveling and sailing around the
world. And many of the goals are achievable in a short time.
At the end of each month or whenever you catch yourself, update this plan to take into account variables such as getting (or not) a promotion, meeting that soulmate, or deciding to learn to rock climb instead of sailing. Also, you might find yourself refining your goals as I did from January to February when I shifted my attitude of "falling in love" to the more easily achievable one of "becoming open to love".
Finally, use your online calendar to get automatic reminders of all those fun things you want to do all year.
Sticking to New Year's resolutions becomes a lot easier when it is a part of a fun, long term plan with exciting goals. And having just re-examined my last year's, I can guarantee that it is possible to turn your dreams into reality. I'm off to Greece in three days. Happy New Year!
At the end of each month or whenever you catch yourself, update this plan to take into account variables such as getting (or not) a promotion, meeting that soulmate, or deciding to learn to rock climb instead of sailing. Also, you might find yourself refining your goals as I did from January to February when I shifted my attitude of "falling in love" to the more easily achievable one of "becoming open to love".
Finally, use your online calendar to get automatic reminders of all those fun things you want to do all year.
Sticking to New Year's resolutions becomes a lot easier when it is a part of a fun, long term plan with exciting goals. And having just re-examined my last year's, I can guarantee that it is possible to turn your dreams into reality. I'm off to Greece in three days. Happy New Year!
