Episode 35: I’m Boycotting New Year’s Resolutions – Who’s With Me?!
Did you know that only 23% of people are planning to make New Year’s resolutions in 2023?! And how many of those do you think are moms? Probably not many! New Year’s resolutions can be super frustrating, especially for busy moms. With so many things on your plate, you need to invest your time wisely. With a 9% success rate, this may not be the best use of your time! For the last few years, I have boycotted New Year’s resolutions and replaced them with something far better: a personal growth plan. Keep listening to learn why this plan is going to make 2023 the year everything changes for you!
So what should a busy mom do instead of making a New Year’s Resolution? I swear by creating a personal growth plan. What is that? A personal growth plan is a concrete action plan that will move you in the direction of your dream life vision. When creating your plan, you will first think about the person you want to be at the end of 2023. Then, you will decide on specific habits that you want to foster each month. After that, you select systems to focus on every two months or so. And finally, you determine which 4 passion areas you want to focus on, one per quarter.
If you are desperate for a place to record your personal growth plan, look no further. You can download your free notebook system set-up guide, just for busy moms. I created this system in a season where I was incredibly overwhelmed. Now, I can’t imagine my life without it. Download your free guide here.
Let’s look at why a personal growth plan is better than setting New Year’s Resolutions together right now!
Reason #1: Personal Growth Plan = Action Plan
The first reason why New Year’s resolutions fail is because there is no action plan associated with them. For example, maybe a New Year’s resolution is to get outside with your kids 4 times a week. OK, that’s a decent goal. But how is it going to happen? What are the action steps? When are you going to do this? What if it rains? Just settling on the goal by itself won’t be the magic ticket to making your consistent outdoor adventures happen.
Without a plan, your New Year’s resolution is going to be pretty close to unattainable. Have you ever heard the quote “A goal without a plan is just a wish” from Antoine de Saint-Exupery? That is exactly what a New Year’s resolution is. By spending your time creating a plan instead, you will be creating the plan to work alongside your goal.
The other great thing about creating this plan is it will give you confidence in your direction. You will know, each month, that you are taking the right action step to get you where you want to go. You will have clarity and with that clarity, will come confidence. Sadly, this is missing when you simply focus your attention on just a New Year’s resolution.
If you want to walk through the personal growth plan process with me, be sure to check out my workshop: Creating a Personal Growth Plan That Will Change Your Life. In 60-minutes, this workshop will help you create a 2023 of your dreams, complete with a custom 2023 plan, just for you.
Reason #2: Focused Action
There is a statistic that 1 in 10 people fail at their New Year’s resolutions because they make too many resolutions. Does that sound familiar? I can’t tell you how many coaching clients I have met with that have 5-10 big resolutions each year. That is too much, mama!
Another reason to love a 2023 personal growth plan is because it will help to focus you on action that will move you forward. You will not be distracted by “fluff” goals. The confidence that you are moving towards your dream life is going to help you achieve your goals much faster. And you will feel so much more fulfilled!
Your time as a busy mom is precious. Be sure that you are spending it on focused action that is creating traction in your life. And again, if you want to create your 2023 personal growth plan with me, in 60 minutes or less, be sure to check out my workshop that will help you to do just that.
Reason #3: Confidence in Your Personal Growth Plan
New Year’s resolutions are often not well-thought out and can feel random. How many years in a row did you set a resolution to lose weight in the new year? Go ahead and raise your hand, you are not alone! Heck, even I have set that resolution once or twice.
Creating a plan for your personal growth will give you confidence about your year ahead. You will know that you are working towards a meaningful goal that may actually change your life. But instead of trying to hit a random target like losing weight, you are going to gain skills and habits that will extend well past 2023.
Your personal growth plan will give you confidence that you are creating forward momentum. And while you may not be 100% sure of where you will be at the end of the year, you will know without a doubt that you will be a better version of yourself.
While you absolutely can spend time on Pinterest and Google putting this plan together yourself, I have created a resource for busy moms to get the whole plan done in an hour or less. You can find all of the details here.
Reason #4: A Personal Growth Plan is Flexible
The fourth reason why a plan for your personal growth is better than New Year’s resolutions is because it is much more flexible. I don’t know about you, but for me, January is a quiet month. I tend to be overly ambitious in January when the weekends are quiet and snow days abound. Because of that, my new year’s resolutions are often unrealistic for the rest of the year. Something that feels manageable in January is incredibly overwhelming in the craziness that is July.
A plan for your personal growth is flexible and can be adjusted every month or seasonally to reflect your life as a current mom. This plan grows with you. You never know where the year is going to take you, but you can rest assured that your personal growth plan is flexible.
My favorite thing about this kind of plan is that it opens you to new opportunities. You may not have even been aware of these opportunities in January! For example, in 2021, I did not have my life coaching business on my radar at all. But in April, an opportunity arose for me to take a life coaching certification course and I jumped on it.
I was able to adjust my personal growth plan to reflect that and continue an upward trajectory for the rest of the year. If I had just set a New Year’s resolution, I wouldn’t (technically) have reached my goal. But with a flexible personal growth plan, I was able to go above and beyond where I would have been if I had just set an achievable resolution that I knew I could hit in my comfort zone.
Reason #5: Accountability
Finally, a personal growth plan gives you accountability along your journey. You are checking in with yourself each month and each quarter. This allows you to tweak your plans and make adjustments.
My favorite resource for staying accountable with my personal growth plan is my MAP Book. If you haven’t heard of this custom organizational system for busy moms, you are definitely going to want to check it out! You can find all of the details and download your free system set-up guide here.
In contrast to your plan for personal growth, your New Year’s resolutions may or may not be referenced again. If you do peek back at them, you more than likely will do a fist pump because you accidentally achieved it. On the flip side, you may be disappointed because you “failed” at the resolution you didn’t actually put effort or action into.
Conclusion: Personal Growth Plan > New Year’s Resolutions
In conclusion, a personal growth plan is going to give you a flexible plan that holds you accountable for consistent, focused action. This plan basically guarantees growth by the end of the year. Even if you get some unexpected curve balls thrown your way, you will still be successful.
If you want to create your own custom plan in an hour or less, be sure to check out my workshop: Creating a Personal Growth Plan That Will Change Your Life. Start your year out strong by saying “No!” to New Year’s resolutions and yes to the new you with your 2023 personal growth plan.
Let’s Make a Plan!
Your next step is to decide if you are going to create a personal growth plan this year. If you are, I strongly recommend that you check out my workshop: Creating a Personal Growth Plan That Will Change Your Life. On the other hand, if you decide to continue with a new year’s resolution, definitely go for it! Be sure to keep yourself accountable to it with your MAP Book.
If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe on Spotify so you don’t miss next week’s episode, which is all about how to know when you are ready to start your personal growth journey.
Finally, if you want to connect between episodes, be sure to give me a follow over on Instagram – @sharonlegercoaching. I would love to support you on your personal growth journey!
[…] And as a final reminder, there are a million reasons why I love personal growth plans more than setting New Year’s resolutions. If you want to learn more about why personal growth plans are such game-changers, be sure to read this blog post. […]