Go ahead and call it a “resolution”, it’s OK. Or a commitment, goal, pledge. Whatever you’d like. Because the power to carry it out, is not contained in the word you use.
There is a way to make this year different. Really.
And it has to do with where your focus lies. Because your focus is everything.
If you focus on all of 2022, you’re doomed to repeat the failed strategies of prior years. And if you pretend like making the resolution or commitment is the big step that matters most, it won’t last.
I know personally all about this. I can’t judge you or anybody, because I use to be the master of failed resolutions! All the greatest intentions, scripted beautifully, convincingly, in my journal, and even on my calendar.
But I lacked the one thing that was going to almost single-handedly propel my resolutions into the stratosphere of reality. I lacked the right focus.
And that focus is this: Plan for one 24-hour span at a time. That’s it. One day. This day and only this day. Not tomorrow, not 6 weeks of this or that or the other thing. Not 3 months from now. The present.
My singular focus is this day. My aim is this 24-hours at hand. The 24 hours I will never get back – the one loaded with potentiality.
Tomorrow is not promised to me. Tomorrow is not promised to you.
This day is what you have. This day is all that you must show up for. It is what is real. It is what is now.
What this means is that your strategy to execute on that resolution/commitment to yourself and to those around you must begin and end with one single day - one 24-hour span of opportunity.
It is not your chance to be perfect. It is not your chance to speed up the process and skip ahead.
It is your chance to start getting consistent. It is your chance to execute on those things that really matter to you.
This is about real progress. Measurable progress. And if you practice this, taking microsteps each day, you will see results. Better, lasting results.
So take each day seriously. Show up for it. And show up for it with joy, expectation, a sense of humor, grace, and the knowledge that even the most micro of steps matters.
(And the best way to show up for it is to launch your day with a killer morning routine. But that’s for another post!)
For now, zero in on the 24 hours you’re given. Perfection isn’t the key, consistency is. Begin the day with owning that day and that day alone. Show up. Be present. And when the year is over you’ll look back and see how your 24-hour focus made all the difference.