This Is Why New Year’s Resolutions Aren’t My Thing…

My birthday was this past Thursday and I had the best day! 

It was also Rain’s first day back to school which made it even more special.

After dropping her off, Zak and I headed to lunch at this amazing place on the water in Malibu and toasted to my next trip around the sun!

I was thinking of my yearly routine as we watched the gulls on the water and I made a note to share my yearly birthday routine with YOU!

So let’s dive in…

I don’t really celebrate January 1 as the new year. Resolutions aren’t my thing and that cutoff date doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s just representative of a random calendar year.

But my birthday does.

My birthday represents another year I’ve spent in this Earth suit, wandering around in the Earth school trying to make sense of it all. Trying to become SELF Made.

So, every year I take time to revisit my Unapologetic Success Story.

If you’re not familiar with that, it’s essentially a detailed version of what I want to create in my life. Like a vision board on steroids with an actual plan to make it happen.

It includes my values, my goals, my priorities, my identity, and even my eulogy. Yes, really.

You see, instead of making resolutions every year, I plan my life starting at the end and looking at what I want to have, feel, do, and be and then I work backwards.

My Unapologetic Success Story (which is the same process we teach coaches at The Modern Life Coach School to use with their clients) functions as a GPS to get me to where I ultimately want to go.

And each year, I review my progress.

I ask things like… Am I happy with my progress or not? Do I need to push more in one area, let go a bit in another?

Is there something else I should consider that will help me reach my goals faster?

Are these still the things I value the most and if so, am I spending enough time on the things I value the most?

And the most important thing I consider each year is this…

… is the destination I have in my Unapologetic Success Story still where I want to go?

I do this so if the answer is no, I don’t waste years of my life realizing that and changing course.

This birthday routine takes a few hours but I do it anyway. To me, there’s nothing else more important.

I don’t even look at it as taking time but rather as SAVING time by making sure I don’t take a wrong turn and have to double back.

We only get so much time and I don’t want to waste a bit of it! So today, I encourage you to take time to reflect on your dreams.

What are your long-term goals? What are you striving for?

What do you value the most and are you prioritizing those things?

Is there something in your life you want to be different and if so, how can you take action today to course correct?

You have the ability to create a new future for yourself, starting today.

What will it be?

Cynthia