Be resolute

With the new year already upon us and new resolutions either taking hold or slipping quietly away, I think the first weekend of the new year is a good time to reflect. If you look through social media, it won't take long to see that 2017 was a tough year for many of us, and while there are always going to be things that happen beyond the breadth of our control, I believe that one of the keys to happiness is focusing on what you can control.

One of the things that I believe we are largely in control of (though not in every aspect of our lives) is why we do what we do. Whenever I have a new client, the first question I usually ask is, "Why are you here today?" Some people are able to answer this with clarity while others need a little time to figure it out, but with nearly three years in the mental health field I can tell that client's who either have or develop a clear "Why" almost always make more progress than those who do not.

Simon Sinek has a wonderful book called Start with Why in which he proposes that knowing why you want to do anything is the key determinant of success; that is to say, knowing why you want to do something is more important to develop than your "what" or "how." Simon suggests that if you develop a strong enough why the what and how of the matter will often, naturally, fall into place.

I say all that to say this: as we reflect on our resolutions and goals of the new year, and take into projection the next 51 weeks, do we really know why we want to achieve our goals? Are they things that we have clearly defined, or are they just expectations forced by our culture or paradigms?

I'd like you to, along with me, over the next two days, take a look at your resolutions and make sure that they indeed truly attainable in one year's time and have a clearly defined why. I will add and additional post to this with a resolution/goal sheet break down to help with this reflection.

Remember: Clarity is power and don't be discouraged if things take longer than you expect. As Earl Nightengale said, "It takes longer to build a skyscraper than a chicken coop." Go forward powerfully into the new year and don't give up!

#2018 #goals #resolutions #why #start