Some saw the pandemic as an opportunity to change direction (with the ‘Great Resignation’ as it’s been called). People looking for Employers who allowed more flexibility or having seen their Employer in their true light during the pandemic and said to themselves, right, I’m off! Some people have taken advantage of the upsides of being at home more, founds new ways of working and surprised themselves about just how resilient they were. Some struggled hugely with isolation back at the start of 2022 and not being able to have a hug is a socially distanced world. The one thing that we’ve all craved more of is hope – hope for a better day, a better economy and a freer life! What I find fascinating (as someone interested in human behaviour) is how different people have reacted to the challenges we’ve continued to face. What we do know is that your reality/how you react is created by you and your focus – this storms we’ve experienced will pass, eventually.

What I do know is that if you want 2023 to be different for you then it starts with you! If you’re ready to take back the reigns to your life, you need to take back control of your thoughts, feelings and emotions…. you need to do something different you need to change your focus. As the famous quote says: if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll also get what you’ve always got. So how about setting your intention for 2023 to be different.

Let me help you get off onto the right foot this New Year …

How do you set New Year’s resolutions?

So let’s start by reflecting on last year ….  how did you set your resolutions last year? Did you pause and reflect? Did you jump right in? Did you listen to everyone else’s ideas and pinch the best? (I’ve done that too!) Did you focus on what you want more of in your life (or what you want less of)?  Have you thought about what went well in 2022 that you want to build on? Are you pausing to consider what you learnt along the way that you can take into 2023? Have you considered what You really, really want for you in 2023?

If like many you traditionally rush to select some New Year’s resolutions without huge amounts of thought, then maybe now is the time to fine tune your intentions to increase your chance of success for 2023 …. (did you know that within the ‘FREE NLP Training‘ section of this website, there is a FREE webinar all about Great Goal Setting – now would be a great time to grab a cuppa and a piece of paper and watch it – click the LINK to access it today!).

6 NLP tips to help you write better goals …

• Be Specific & write it down! – What do you you want? – really spend time pondering over this, ask yourself some great questions to get really precise about it. Get it committed to paper – write it down, draw it or find images that represent it (this can be a great activity to get the family involved with over the festive period – perhaps get some big sheets of paper and some old magazine and the Prit-Stik out!). Be as specific as you can about what you want and by when you will have achieved it e.g. 1st September 2023.  Get clear on how will you know when you’ve achieved it? What will you see, hear or feel when you’ve got it?
• ‘Watch your language’: Use positive language to state your specific goal. Ensure your goal specifies the outcome that you WANT – not what you don’t want. You want to be focused on for example getting fit and healthy (if currently you have written that you want to lose weigh – writing about the loss of weight means you are focusing on exactly what you don’t want – weight!). If that’s you, it’s simple to fix, just re-look at your goal and rephrase it into what you want by asking yourself these questions: ‘what do I want instead?’ or ‘what will doing that get for me?’
• Know your “why” to help with motivation: a phrase I heard from Ray Higdon is: “pain pushes you, until a vision pulls you” – it’s all about the different types of motivation. People are either motivated away from something they don’t want (pain), or towards something that they do want (the latter brings much much more consistent results and success). Be honest with yourself, is there a massive ‘why’ behind your goal that excites and delights you if you imagine having already achieved it? – if not, maybe you don’t have the right goal? have you pondered over your reason for wanting your goal – is there a big ‘why’ there that you’ve yet to discover? or is it the wrong goal for you in 2023?
• Take Action! – set your intention to do something every day towards your goal (no matter how small) – nothing is going to happen unless you do something! TOP TIP: when I go to bed at night I ask myself; ‘what did I do today towards my goal?’ and ‘What did I learn?’ – 2 simple questions that allow me to reflect for a few moments as I close my eyes and drift off to the land of nod  …. (and if you’re the type of person who likes to beat themselves up mentally during this type of exercise the next bullet point is particularly for you!)
• There is no failure, only feedback: none of us are perfect – and in my model of the world there is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback – which we can learn from. Many people make the mistake of thinking that they’ve ‘failed’ at a single task towards their goal and therefore abandon their goal entirely. Feedback simply needs to be learnt from or reflected upon. TOP TIP: once you’ve set your goal, and you’re out of the starting blocks, be flexible if things aren’t working out in the way you had hoped – if what you’re doing isn’t working, tweak something, do something else – simples! (check out my video on the 5 Principles to Success to help you with your goal).
• Accountability – make a promise: is there someone that you’d never break promise to?  EVER? – then that’s the person you need to tell about your goal(s) for this coming year. Chat to them, discuss how you’re going to do it, what are the steps, and ask them if they’d hold you accountable – what frequency will you check in with each other? How will you update them …

The route to Success

Finally, the route to success starts with you … make the decision to take action.  If you are serious about making 2023 your year, why not get in touch and speak to us here at Unleash Your Potential, we will happily guide in the best route to take … call Lyn on 02920 023311 or email info@unleashyourpotential.org.uk.