Not only is it a new year, it’s also a new decade. We’re not going to throw a whole load of platitudes at you about new beginnings and becoming a better version of yourself. Whilst 60% of us will make resolutions, only 1 in 8 will succeed. New year is a time for reflection and an opportunity to design your decade rather than let the next ten years simply happen to you but your starting point is what’s working, not what isn’t.
You’re Already Enough
Our experience as coaches tell us that New Year resolutions fail not because we’re weak but because the premise of a ‘new you’ is faulty. That’s where designing your decade comes in. It acknowledges that you’re already ok. You’re fine the way you are. The starting point isn’t a deficit. When you start to define your decade, you begin by reflecting on what you’ve achieved. Consider what went well and what you’re proud of. That’s why, at the end of each year we slow down, shifting into a more reflective gear to examine the previous year.
Being able to recognise where you’ve stretched yourself along with the distance you’ve travelled is key to planning your journey for the next decade. New Year goals shouldn’t be painful neither should they be about blame. A review is about getting an honest perspective.
New Decade Designing Tools
Designing your new decade requires time and space. It’s an opportunity for growth enabling more authentic goals. For this, it can be enormously helpful to use design tools. Think of it as new decade architecture. We love Compass Review or, Positive Change Guru’s Success Spotlight personal Review.
Think of a guide as your map. By asking prompting questions they steer you along a logical path. Where did you procrastinate? What do you want to do more of? Where do you want to place your focus in the future? Plans help you to close the previous year and begin a new one. Reflect on the last ten years. How did the decade go for you? Did you notice as it passed by? Were there things that you wanted to focus on but got sidetracked? Design tools will ask you all of this and more in every area of your world.
Keep Your Next Decade Design Evidence Based
The foundations of Success Spotlight Personal Review are based in positive psychology, growth mindset and neuroscience. If you’re going to put time and effort into designing the next year or the next decade it’s important to use the right tools. Using strategies from positive psychology, growth mindset and resilience will help you to achieve your dreams and stay on track when there’s a bump in the road.
Dealing with Failure
There’s no point in pretending that there won’t be challenges. There will. That’s life. We all fail. It’s what we do with that failure that makes a difference. Having effective tools to manage those failures will keep you on track. By creating a strategy for when things go wrong you’ll turn those dreams into achievable goals.
Develop a Growth Mindset
Take time to develop a growth mindset. Recognise that you have a choice in terms of how you respond when things don’t go as planned. Identify your self talk – if there’s an inner grinch putting you down or telling you it’s impossible, learn how to silence it. The free Growth Mindset Toolkit on Positive Change Guru is a great place to begin honing your growth mindset skills.
A Time for Quiet Reflection
A new decade is a time to quietly reflect. To create time and space to gently think about what the next decade will be about. If you could sum your aspirations for the new year up in one word, what would it be? Fearless? Happiness? Connection? Love? Or perhaps self care is high on your agenda. If it is, take a look at our free 31 Day Zenuary Toolkit. Remember to set realistic goals for your plan and check in a regular intervals. Monitor your progress and adjust things if you find you’re off track. Designing your year is a constant iteration of reflection. Create milestones throughout your year (and your decade) to remain focused.
We’ll leave you with one of our favourite quotes from Robin Sharma for inspiration.
“Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life.”
We’d love to hear how you’re getting on with your plans. Do send us photos and updates on Twitter and Instagram of your designing your next decade journey.
Want to know more about growth mindset, personal change, developing resilience and maintaining high performance? Take a look at our Free Building Resilience Toolkit or any of our Free tools in the resources section.
We work with individuals, leaders and Fortune 100 companies to improve performance, build resilience and embed sustainable high performance in teams. We provide training courses, coaching and consultancy. Want to know more? Get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.
[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form]