Have a resilient year! Drop resolutions – set intentions instead

So, the first week in a new year is over - how are your resolutions doing? On track? It’s often a time when we think about our life and how we want to change it. From a work perspective, our resolutions might include: find a better job/ get organised / stop procrastinating – just do it / stop worrying what my colleagues think of me / spend less time online / go home on time. They’re all about a specific thing we want to either start or stop.

Yet research shows our resolutions will more than likely fail, or fade away, usually by the end of the third week in January. Why is that? Resolutions are goals. They tell us very clearly where we want to be, but not how to get there, and being specific, they don’t give us any room for manoeuvre. They might work for short term goals, like leaving work on time today, but don’t have the sustaining power we need to keep up our motivation for the whole year. Resolutions tend to focus on fixing what’s wrong with our life. The resolution of finding a better job reminds us that we’re unfulfilled in the one we have.

In the interest of breaking the annual routine of setting resolutions, seeing them fail, feeling guilty – approach the new year and the opportunities that lie ahead differently. Think about setting intentions.

Intentions allow room for growth, change, and uncertainty, and these are attributes of a growth mindset. Things may not always go our way and we might have to deal with unexpected changes. Intentions are not black and white, but are connected to what we really want – and there is usually a variety of ways to achieve that result.

A resolution might be ‘get a new job’; the intention could be ‘be clear about what I want from my career’.

What’s the difference? Thinking about what you want from your career might mean getting a new job, but there could be many other options, for example, working on a new project with your current employer to widen your skills and experience. By not limiting yourself to one specific method, you open yourself up to a range of possibilities and increase your chances of achieving something more meaningful.

How does this fit in with resilience? Resilience is the capacity to recover from difficult situations, emerging more able and wiser. It requires us to be good at learning new things and be flexible in adapting to change. People with a growth (rather than fixed) mindset are more resilient. They view obstacles as opportunities and believe that they can achieve what they work for. Setting intentions reinforces these qualities of resilience.

Why not make 2018 your year of intention?

I am an executive, leadership and career coach who specialises in resilience. Contact me to find out how I can help you set your intentions and build your resilience.