{"id":1217,"date":"2023-01-29T08:23:57","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T08:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/keeping-your-resolutions-on-track\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T17:29:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T16:29:16","slug":"keeping-your-resolutions-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.twentytwo.digital\/ukbodytalk\/resources\/blogs\/keeping-your-resolutions-on-track\/","title":{"rendered":"Paved with Good Intentions – Three Tips for Keeping Your Resolutions on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one\u2019s courage<\/em><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>“<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Paved with Good Intentions – Three Tips for Keeping Your Resolutions on Track<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m going to start this blog with some audience participation.<\/p>\n

Raise your hand if you made any New Year\u2019s resolutions this year? OK. Now keep it up if you\u2019re already finding them difficult to stick to? I\u2019m guessing that\u2019s a few of you.<\/p>\n

The new year is historically an occasion that inspires transformation. January 1st<\/sup> represents an opportunity for a fresh start. It\u2019s a brand-new sheet on the flip chart of life, ready to be marked with an ambitious agenda for change.<\/p>\n

Professionally speaking, new year\u2019s resolutions come in many forms. They could be getting organised, finding a new job, or growing the business. For most years my resolution as a professional actor was simply to \u2018work more\u2019.<\/p>\n

By the end of January, however, that agenda may have been downgraded to be a little more conservative. Possibly scrapped completely.<\/p>\n

So how can we stick to our new year\u2019s resolutions and achieve our objectives?<\/p>\n

For anyone who\u2019s felt the slow puncture of apathy deflating their resolve, here are three tips for keeping on track.<\/p>\n

Be Realistic<\/h2>\n

A delegate on a recent call told me his goal for 2023 was to \u201cget better at presenting.\u201d The danger here is that resolutions often collapse when the goal we set ourselves is unspecific and lacks a tangible outcome.<\/p>\n

What part of presenting did he want to get better at? Structuring? Delivery? Handling questions? How was he planning to achieve it? By when?<\/p>\n

Giving ourselves measurable and achievable goals helps us to stay on track. When we achieve our goals, our brains release dopamine. Dopamine is part of the brain’s reward system. It gives us a sense of pleasure and satisfaction when we succeed. It also motivates us to recreate those feelings by achieving further goals.<\/p>\n

If we haven\u2019t defined what success looks like, there can be no reward. And without a reward, it\u2019s easy to see why we lose interest in our resolutions.<\/p>\n

Trying to achieve too much too soon can also lead to us giving up.<\/p>\n

At Body Talk, we\u2019re mindful of our delegates trying to put everything we teach into action in their next presentation. If they do, they\u2019re likely to feel overwhelmed and fall back into old, comfortable habits.<\/p>\n

At the end of each course, we recommend people choose two techniques that resonate with them. We ask them to practise them until they feel comfortable. Only then should they go back to their notes, select two more techniques and repeat the process.<\/p>\n

As the proverb goes, \u201cthere\u2019s only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.\u201d<\/em> The same goes for our resolutions. Breaking them down into smaller chunks makes them less daunting and easier to achieve.<\/p>\n

So, be specific about your aims and be realistic.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s No Time Like the Present<\/h2>\n

The sooner we can begin putting our resolutions into practice, the better. Procrastinating makes the journey harder to start, and giving up seems more appealing. I know this from personal experience.<\/p>\n

At drama school, the thought of going first in class horrified me. I was terrified of being judged or \u2018getting it wrong\u2019. I\u2019d hang back, kidding myself that I\u2019d pitch in when I had something worthwhile to offer. By delaying, the pressure I felt increased with each classmate who went before me. Inevitably, when there was nobody else left, I would be forced to engage, cursing myself for not going sooner. I\u2019d transformed a molehill into a mountain.<\/p>\n

It may be that your ultimate aim is to present at the company\u2019s annual conference. The idea of getting started on this journey may fill you with dread. But don\u2019t wait for the day to arrive and hope that everything will fall into place. Look for opportunities to practice, especially in low-stakes situations. Each presentation, however small, will grow your confidence and make the big day seem less daunting when it comes around.<\/p>\n

Getting the ball rolling is never as bad as you think. It puts you in the driving seat, which is where you need to be if you\u2019re going to achieve your goals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Embrace the Weird<\/h2>\n

Back in the late 90s, David Bowie appeared in a documentary called Inspirations<\/em>. In it, he was asked what advice he would give to young artists. \u201cGo a little bit out of your depth,<\/a>\u201d<\/em> he replied. \u201cAnd when you don\u2019t feel your feet are quite touching the bottom, you\u2019re just about in the right place to do something exciting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This is as applicable in business as in art. Changing our behaviour always feels weird initially; there\u2019s no getting around it. It can feel exposing and unnatural. But that\u2019s ok. It means you\u2019re in the right place.<\/p>\n

To undergo meaningful change, we need to step beyond our comfort zone. It\u2019s there that we can discover what we\u2019re really capable of.<\/p>\n

As the saying goes, \u201cIf you always do what you\u2019ve always done, you\u2019ll always get what you always got.\u201d<\/em> Which is surely the antithesis of why we make our resolutions in the first place.<\/p>\n

Have courage and embrace the weird. If you commit to it, it won\u2019t feel weird too much longer.<\/p>\n

So if you can feel your new year\u2019s resolve starting to falter, revisit your resolutions to see how realistic they are. And keep in mind this pearl of wisdom from the writer Ana\u00efs Nin:<\/p>\n

\u201cLife shrinks or expands in proportion to one\u2019s courage.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t give up. You can do it!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How can we stick to our new year\u2019s resolutions and achieve our objectives? For anyone who\u2019s felt the slow puncture of apathy deflating their resolve, here are three tips for keeping your resolutions on track.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":1218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThree Tips for Keeping Your Resolutions on Track | Body Talk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How can we stick to our new year goals and achieve our objectives? 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