New Year is at our doorstep, and this means one great thing among many: New Year’s Resolutions. Yes, it’s time to start carving out those top resolutions that are going to make this an extraordinary year.
So, what are we going to commit to? To take up? To launch ourselves into? To get the ball rolling for 2010!…
The thing about New Year’s Resolutions is that they’ve got to be big AND they’ve got to be exciting. It’s no use making the same-old list of resolutions year in year out, that either fail to motivate us or offer us little scope of going anywhere good. No, we need resolutions that are so big and so exciting that they make us want to leap out of bed in the morning. They need to inspire us, motivate us and bring us alive, all year round.
We must discard any preconceptions that we may already have about New Year’s Resolutions. Perhaps we didn’t see the worth in them or couldn’t keep to them in previous years, but that really doesn’t matter here. We need to start afresh, start where we are, and with a brand new lease of optimism. The thing is: we are all every bit capable of making some cracking resolutions that we can not only keep to, but that will do wonder.
Recently, I’ve got back into running. I’m out there two or three mornings a week for around 20 to 30 minutes. Lucky for me, I have a couple of running buddies at uni, who make it more fun and keep me motivated on dark, cold mornings when I don’t just feel like springing out of bed.
Keen to give my running a little more focus and seeing the New Year coming, I decided I’d enter a 5k run in May. A perfect goal to aim towards I thought. But, on speaking to my cousin at a Christmas get-together, it seemed greater things were in store for me. “5k is well within your means Rosanna, go for 10k instead” she started, “which really isn’t that far off a half marathon” she spurred me on. Ok, I was persuaded. “A half marathon it is!”, or was…
Back at home in Cambridge, my sister was busy arranging a running buddy for me when I came to stay. “Sure, I’d love to run the morning after your Christmas party,… in the snow,… with someone I don’t know. Sounds right up my street!” I chirped. What had I let myself in for? Unknown to me, that by the end of this run, I’d be upping my New Year’s Resolution to something much greater than ever anticipated…
When it was proposed to me that I enter the Amsterdam Marathon, I felt a shield come straight to my defence. “No, I couldn’t do that. I’m really not a long distance runner, I do yoga and I have small ankles”. There were my reasons, and behind which I could have stayed shielded and protected. But, the straightforward positivity and encouragement coming from my new running buddy soon enticed me to surrender. “I’ll do it” I cried, and knew I had just commited myself to the biggest New Year’s Resolution of my life to date.
Why am I doing it? Because it’s bigger than me and because it really excites me. The sheer magnitude of the challenge fills me with determination to see it through, to discover who I am along the journey, to make me stronger, to raise my fitness levels, to push myself and to give me something so great to aim for. Sure, it’d be amazing to cross the finish line, I can only imagine that, but what I am most interested in is the journey getting there, the impact training for the marathon will have on me both psychologically and physically – this I just can’t wait for.
I am also privilieged to be running it with not only my new running buddy, but also my two brothers and my best friend. On hearing the news of my epic resolution, they decided to join me rather than dissuade me. This makes me feel entirely supported, and a little less crazy.
So, in asking you to support me in achieving my New Year’s Resolution, I ask you to make one of your own. See what you come up with. Be prepared to astound yourself. And once decided on something that is so big and so exciting, that you just can’t wait to get started, commit to it today, and let the fruits grow tomorrow…
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Do you want a new year resolution that actually works?
Are you excited by the idea of some great new year resolutions but fearful of them falling by the wayside?
Have you made the same resolution year after year and experienced repeated failure?
The good news is that this is very normal and very understandable. A resolution involves significant behavioural change – which won’t happen just by writing a resolution down.
You want to understand your resolution, identify what’s been blocking you in the past and find the right language to use for it. You’ll then feel satisfied as you create a great change in your life.
I’m delighted to let you know that my sister, a certified coach, offers an 8-part e-course to help anyone who wants to create a resolution that really works. Every few days for 30 days you’ll receive an email which guides you through each step of an effective resolution-making process.
You can find more details at:
http://youinspireme.co.uk/products-and-classes/new-way-resolutions-e-course/
and you can get started straight away via that page.
Wishing you a wonderful start to 2010.
29/12/2009 at 15:26
Rosanna, you are SUCH an inspiration. Yes, you’ve even got me thinking about running the marathon – so much so that I’ve had a few dreams this week about it! Ha ha.
Thank you for all your inspirational posts throughout 2009; I look forward to more wonderful posts in the new year.
Much love
Corrina
http://www.youinspireme.co.uk
29/12/2009 at 16:55
Fantastic, Ro! Go for it!! XX
31/12/2009 at 13:26
Corrina and Catie, thank you both for all your comments this year. They have been so supportive and a pleasure to recieve.
I wish you both the best in 2010! Go for your dreams, and nothing less.
Rosanna