the way of the savant: setting intentional New Year’s resolutions.
First off, Happy Damn New Year, ya filthy animals. 22 is about to be good to me and you. Lord knows it can’t be worse that 2020 or 2021…but then again, who really knows. We didn’t exactly expect 20/21 to resemble stepping on unlimited legos, but here we find ourselves. In a nutshell, it’s been a tough road and celebration of New Years as the conclusion of the holiday season is usually a time when we prepare to celebrate surviving another year…while also welcoming the possibility of a ‘better’ year to come. New Years celebrations tend to bring the ‘new year, new me’ people to life, especially since most of us are on some sort of break and can briefly enjoy life without rampant responsibilities and work/class deadlines. Think about it: for about 48 hours (NYE and NYD), the country is in constant ‘kickin it’ mode. Thousands of people crowd into Times Square in New York City to sing, dance, consume, and watch the ball drop. Various streets across the globe are also filled with people dressed to the nines, while also wearing cheap party items and dropping plastic flutes left and right. It’s chaos. In many ways, New Years resembles to just about any night on Bourbon street in NOLA (IYKYK).
In addition to all of the celebratory antics, New Years is also a time where ‘resolutions’ are common. For the last 200 years, New Year’s Resolutions have been a societal expectation; a public declaration of promises for behavioral change in some way, shape, or form. Some historians would argue that the Babylonians are responsible for this trend, as they are said to have used resolutions as a way to make promises to the gods in hopes of a promising return on investment. Notwithstanding, every one of us has made a New Year’s Resolution at some point in our lives. Most of us forget them by MLK’s Birthday (January 15), but that can change if we want it to. Some resolutions are quite typical, like exercising more, eating healthier, saving money, or losing/gaining weight. Others are more vague, such as ‘being more present’ or ‘making larger efforts to be with family.” Regardless of the resolution, let’s pause for a second and talk about the process leading up to the public declarations that we make. Before we allow those declarations to exit our lips, let’s think for a second about the most important word to sustained success: intentionality.
You see, anyone can make a New Year’s Resolution and declare to the world that they will change XYZ in the next 12 months…but most people fail to keep their word due to the lack of intentionality. For example: how many of us say we’re going to ‘save more money’ in the New Year, even though we currently don’t save much at all? As a veteran of spending hella on lavish trips and various items, I have been guilty of this particular pitfall myself. This is not a shot at those of us who have said this, but rather an example of how intentionality can make all of the difference in achievements. If we say we are going to ‘save more money,’ that can mean anything from saving $1/week to saving $500/paycheck. There is too much grey area in saying one wants to ‘save more money,’ and because there is no specificity in the resolution, it is bound to fail from the jump because there are no defining characteristics to the goal. Saving $1/week is certainly a start, but it will not wield the sustained change in finances that we desire. In this case, we must be more specific in our goal if we are to truly achieve the financial stability that effective saving affords.
“An unintentional life accepts everything and does nothing. An intentional life embraces only the things that will add to the mission of significance.”
The fact of the matter is: New Year’s Resolutions are just words that are expressed to the world (or written in our Heart Take Journal). Those words mean absolutely nothing if we do nothing with them. Akin to every other day of the year, we can blow unlimited smoke, flex behind screens, and spew empty promises through personal communication, social media, or a mixture of both. That can/will happen often, and although that’s the societal norm, we can shift that norm on a personal level and restore the power of the spoken word to those around us. Word is bond, you know? As such, let’s be intentional in 2022…starting with our New Year’s Resolutions. If we want to be better, we must be intentional with our steps to ensure that growth is continually taking place.
We must be intentional.
You must be intentional.
🌹
Ultimately, we can boss up in 2022. To do so, here are four things to consider as you set your New Year’s Resolutions for 2022:
1) Make sure the resolution is personal. Is the change something you actually want? Are you making the change to improve your life, or are you doing this to impress someone else? Resolutions are not about what people expect of you, they are about what you desire for yourself. If you want to gain/lose weight, do it for the sake of feeling better in your own skin on a daily basis. If you want better finances, take control of your accounts for the sake of your own (literal) personal gain. The list goes on but the point is, make sure that the resolution has personal significance to you and what you want your life to encapsulate. Don’t set resolutions for anyone but your damn self. After all, the resolution is for your own behavioral changes for the better…and nobody knows you better than you know yourself.
2) Be intentional with the specifics. Don’t allow any shortcuts or mishaps on your road to successful change in 2022. As such, be intentional with setting mini-goals to reach the major goal and don’t forget to celebrate the small victories of progress along the way. It’s the small victories that really count, especially when we are committing to 365 days of continued effort. Honestly, the goal should scare you a bit. More directly, the ‘goal’ will be more meaningful if the stakes are higher. Don’t take the easy route or allow yourself to go easy on the road of progress. Set the bar, be relentless in your pursuit of your best version of self, and stop at absolutely nothing to accomplish the mission. Be intentional with mapping out the steps it will take to accomplish the resolution and be honest with the process. It’s going to be difficult, but don’t allow yourself to give up when you meet a hurdle. Celebrate the progress that has been made, regroup, and keep on keepin’ on. You control the outcome because you ultimately control how much effort you put into your resolution. If you want it to work out, you have to work it out. You must believe in your desired outcome to the degree that you allow no option for anything short of success. Be intentional with the goal, the steps, and what it will take to get there…then get to the money.
3) Set up accountability structures. John C. Maxwell once said, “Nothing of significance was ever achieved by an individual acting alone. Look below the surface and you will find that all seemingly solo acts are really team efforts.” This quote is cash money. As an example, let’s return to the earlier example about saving money and let’s say you’ve been struggling with budgeting or spending habits for years. Finally, you get sick and tired of being sick and tired and decide, “Okay, this is enough. Next year, I’m going to save more money and be more efficient in my spending.” That is all well and great, but who is there to hold you accountable? The solution: tell your friends/family that this is your goal, allow them to hold you accountable, and lean on them to keep you going. Our supporting cast (seemingly) wants to see us win and as such, they will serve as a constant supporters of our goal. Major behavioral changes are tough because they tend to push us outside of our comfort zone and force us to do things differently, which can be daunting (or damn-near impossible) if done alone. Allow your people to be your walking mirrors. Allow your supporting cast to truly support you by checking in to see how things are going, helping you develop more effective habits, and being there to help you keep it moving when things get tough…because things will get tough. Nothing that is worth it comes easy, but remember: there is strength in numbers.
4) Give yourself a chance. Listen, imposter syndrome is real and the world can lead you to believe that your biggest dreams can never be achieved because it ‘isn’t in the cards for someone like you.’ Part of you may consciously believe that certain goals/successes are possible, but many times your self-doubt exists as the biggest hurdle that most will never overcome. For many of us, the fear of rejection, ridicule, or even success will freeze us into a space where standing still becomes the only option. More directly, sometimes we want to achieve a goal but are frightened to our core to bring it to reality because our goal itself scares the hell out of us. That fear could be due to thoughts of inadequacy, abandonment, ridicule from our peers, outshining others, or simply thoughts of how drastically our lives would change if our biggest dreams came true.
It sounds odd, but many of us fear the things that we want the most
Now is the time to snap out of it. Not to say it will be easy, but divorcing one's self from the clutches of imposter syndrome is important along the journey to personal success and growth. As such, give yourself a chance to be great. Set your resolutions as realistic goals to be met, line them up, and then attack them one after the other. You deserve to be great. You deserve to be fulfilled. You deserve to live the reality that currently exists as a dream in your mind. It’s on you. Get out of your own head, get out of your own way, and let’s get this money in 22. Damn the rest.
This is our year…if we choose for it to be. We are capable of taking control of our lives and developing a stronghold on our trajectory. We can even win against major battles like depression and/or anxiety, but we have to be willing to do the heart work and be intentional with the steps that will lead us to mental freedom. We can also lose (or gain) the weight we desire and can subsequently become the ideal selves that we wish to see in the mirror…but we have to be intentional in our methods for achieving our goals and give ourselves a chance to make it happen. We can achieve anything that we desire, but intentionality is the key to sustained behavioral change beyond any New Year’s Resolution.
Lastly, you are not alone! I’m here every step of the way, but I need to know what your focus is! Set three goals for 22 and let me know what they are! I’m more than happy to support you, check [on] you, and assist in any way possible. I will post a few of my resolutions for the world to see, and I challenge you to do the same! Tag me (along with a link to this article) so I can share it and together, we can develop a community of accountability.
Happy New Year! 🥂
Siempre,
Savant Lamont 🌹
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