Rather than focusing on a single New Year’s resolution, consider reflecting and developing a more comprehensive plan for your future. Annual goal-setting offers a lifelong method to fine-tune or chart a new direction for your life. It is never too late to start over or change direction.
I encourage attention to “character” when goal-setting because I believe it is the keystone for all other areas of our overall health and well-being. Each of us have God given character strengths that we describe as “personality” or “temperament.” Some people have natural social intelligence and zest; some have a lot of self-control and grit; some are very spiritual and wise. Regardless, if each of us does a personal inventory we will know which ones are our gifts, which ones we developed through our childhood and life experiences, and which ones we might want to strengthen. See a list of character traits here. With focus and attention, we can become solid in all of these areas. I believe you can and should practice strengthening character traits.
Life is full of distractions and curve balls. I believe the strength of our character, and a good sense of humor, is what gives us the tools to weather the storms of life. Strength of character is your foundation. It will drive the direction of your life to be balanced for the better good and not in the sole pursuit of what society or the media defines as success, which is typically wealth, fame, and personal gratification. Your character will be your compass and guide. Your other goals will help keep you on your path to those things that give your life purpose. Laughter will help keep things in perspective.
At the end of the day it is about balancing all areas in your life. A strong character, healthy lifestyle, and focus on nurturing key relationships will build a strong foundation for attaining other goals. An aspiring career will suffer over time if adequate attention is not paid to one’s character, health, and continuing education. On the flip side, relationships may suffer if too much focus is on career and the pursuit of individual goals.
And finally, resist the urge to set too many goals, otherwise you risk not accomplishing them. It is better to set a handful of well thought out impactful goals that you can achieve. Then make sure you put in place the system to support achieving your goals. Happy goal setting!
You can get started with your goal-setting for the new year by exploring my resources and templates within the Goal Setting section of my website here. Have fun and Happy New Year!