How Can You Think About Who You Want to be Next Year?

At this time of year, many people start their todo lists or write down resolutions. Actions and resolutions are about the “what we want to accomplish.”

Many people start with “what” instead of “why.” For example, many people (including me) want to lose weight over the coming year.  You might want to learn a new programming or natural language. You might want to find a new job or become an entrepreneur. All of those possibilities are great.

I have found that if I start with why I want to do something, I might be more successful. I start with my values.

I have values of learning, fun, and health as my core values. That means I might say, “I want to lose weight because I will be more healthy. I also want to have fun and learn something while I do that.” That will lead me to actions that have experimentation in them. I hope to be more successful with the experimentation.

Instead of resolutions, I ask myself, “Who do you want to be? What more do you want to learn? How will you use that learning to be more? Why do you want that?” (Yes, I have conversations with myself. Go ahead: insert obligatory voices-in-your-head joke here.)

This is when I challenge myself with my adaptability. You might find these questions helpful, as I do:

• Look at your stuff and ask, Does this enhance my life? I sometimes use that question for the work I select, also.
• I sometimes make a list of where am I better or worse than last year. Do I want to select anything from that list to improve or reinforce?
• Do I need to check my guideposts to see if I am choosing values that resonate with me?
• How can I experiment to make this idea successful?

I want to live the best possible life and one that resonates with my values of learning, fun, and health. Then, I can create an action plan for next year.

I have a list of everything I want to accomplish. That list is too large. The only way I know how to make the list more manageable is to review my capacity (words, videos, coaching, consulting, etc) and see what I think I can do in a week. Then, decide what I can do in a day and make plans based on that.

I know I will re-evaluate my plans as I proceed. I expect to do so. On the other hand, I want the big picture so I can adjust, keeping the plans in mind as I proceed.

I tend to check my choices with the ideas in Who Makes the Choices in Your Life? to make sure I’m in the here-and-now, and not the there-and-then.

You might consider the ideas here, instead of making resolutions or creating a large todo list. Whatever you choose, I do hope you are happy with your choices.

That is the question this week: How can you think about who you want to be next year?