Unsurprisingly for a coach, I absolutely love the New Year. A bit in the same way I used to love the new school year, I see it more than any other time as a chance to have a blank page to write on in the same way having a new diary feels. I love that sense of possibility that having an empty page and diary brings when you know you can fill it with lots of yummy things to do.
And when it is time to think about what you want to achieve in a New Year, I think it is just as important to think in terms of FUN as it is to think about the commitments you want to make. Resolutions and the word resolve just don;t feel that fun to me! Or even that firm in terms of the commitment being made. Being a coach I like to make sure I have the right word for the right situation, so for me in terms of my BIG audacious goals it is much more relevant to think about Commitment and Intention rather than only Resolutions.
Why?
I think it was Mark Forster who wrote in his book that there is a big difference between something you are interested in and something you are committed to. You can be interested in a whole heap of stuff, but it doesn't necessarily going to mean that you are going to achieve in that area. After all, I am sure the Olympic Gold winners did more than just be interested in the sport they won in!
They made a choice and a commitment to what they wanted to succeed in and be involved in and then put their heart and soul into achieving it. And those are the "resolutions" that are successful rather than the ones that you think that you should be going after for January 1st.
So when you start making your list of what you'd like to achieve in your life and in your coaching business in 2009, look at the list and then think of it in the new language of commitment and intention. Where do you really intend to spend your time in 2009? What are you really committing time, energy and effort to in order to make that as successful as it can be? To be successful you may just need to let go of some other resolutions to make the most of your opportunity for success in what you REALLY want to do this year.
Oh yes, and back to the fun stuff. Take some time out to have fun, stop and smell the roses this year as well as to work the work. You'll feel more rested and restored as a result!
