Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible!”
Audrey Hepburn
19th January is statistically the day most people give up on their New Year’s Resolution.
In my view, the first mistake they made was making a resolution in the first place. You see it’s so socially acceptable to wake up on 1st January declaring what a wonderful new human being you will be…but also to turn around on 2nd January, crawl back under your duvet and decide that actually, it was more comfortable being the average Joe you were before. Your heart was never really in it in the first place. You made a false promise because it seemed like a nice fluffy idea in the first place.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I create revolutions. I set goals and create plans to achieve them. I accept that the path to being a better human being is bumpy, but I relish that because there is nothing more boring than being stuck in a rut. I felt I’d reached a “ceiling” in my job at age 26. I knew that there must be more to life than where I was and went looking for adventure. Last year, my adventure was launching the Wonder Clinic and this year, there are plenty more adventures opening up to me because of where my last exploration took me. I’ve set some fairly tough goals for myself both personally and professionally this year and I’m excited, but equally intimidated by the challenges ahead.
I’m also not setting temporary surges of success, I’m setting goals for long term steps up in my development, to create a better perspective for the future.
A lot of you will have set goals for this year too and your motivation for these may be waning a little by now. You know what, moulding yourself into a new human is hard! If it were easy, nobody would fail! So here’s some tips for today to keep you motivated if success seems a grand canyon away from you and you’re about to crawl back under the duvet:
- Reflect. The picture below is me, gunning it around the bike circuit in Eton, where I qualified for the European age group championships. It was unexpected. I’d taken a punt the year after my Ironman and had thought of it more as a test to see how much work I’d have to do to qualify the following year. Two weeks later, I got an email to say I’d been picked for the team and would be wearing my GB suit in 2020. Find some photos that reflect your success last year, then think about how you’re going to create some more moments you’re equally, if not MORE proud of this year than you were last.
- Have a reason. A wise man once told me that the only way I would stay motivated to do the difficult stuff, was if I had a “burning desire” to do it. Create your burning desire. Grab a pen and paper now. Think long, deep and hard about WHY you want to achieve whatever it is you have set your mind to this year. Is it to improve your confidence? Is it to make a better life for your family? Is it to make sure you have no regrets in life? Is it freedom, independence or liberation? Write them down. Use them as a bookmark or have them printed on a keyring. Have them somewhere you can quickly see them to regularly remind you of why it is you’re not taking the easy road.
- Surround yourself with the best. Share your goals with someone close, or perhaps if it’s a goal you’re happy to share with a wider circle, share it with a group of people you know can stay on board too. DON’T hang out with people that will entice you away from your targets. I am surrounded in aesthetics by an amazing network of colleagues and I continuously immerse myself in forums, teaching rooms, webinars, conferences, social media conversations to keep me on the right path to excellence. It’s the same for my training; I cocoon myself with the right people who are equally driven to succeed in their sport, whatever it is. They understand the challenges but will also not let you fail. But also see the value of books, research and new points of view. Be open to anything that might improve your journey towards your goal. This doesn’t mean wasting time willy-nilly on different ideas, it means taking a considered approach to solving your problems and eliminating the barriers to your success.
Maybe you did make a resolution this year. Maybe you’ve already given up on it. Don’t think it’s too late for change and don’t wait until January 2021 to start creating the more fulfilled you – go out and create your personal revolution! See where it gets you…
