In 2007 British psychologist Richard Wiseman followed more than 3,000 people attempting to achieve New Year's resolutions including the top three:
Spend more time Exercising
Quit Smoking
At the start of the study, most were confident of success. A year later, only 12% had achieved their goals. To make meaningful New Year's resolutions that you'll really keep, it’s important to look at what you value most and how you want to spend the “second act” of your life.
As we get older and wiser we start to realize some of the habits and baggage we carry around from our youth no longer serves who we are today. We always have a choice to stay stuck in the past or to evolve and grow. We have a choice to have a growth mindset or a closed mindset.
January is a time for reflection - looking back at the year past and looking forward to the time ahead of us. FYI, if you've ever wondered how the month of January got its name, you have JANUS to thank as the Roman God of beginnings and transitions. Janus is the namesake of January, the first month of a new year.
Janus in Roman mythology was the god of doors, gates, and transitions. Janus represents the middle ground between concrete and abstract dualities such as life or death, beginnings and endings, youth, and adulthood. He is always portrayed with two faces one facing the past and one facing the future. So the New Year is a time for resolutions and new beginnings. One door opens while another closes.
To this end I have borrowed some ideas from Peter Drucker - who was the father of modern business management. He died in 2005 at the age of 95 and wrote 39 books! He was prolific! He was most famous for his “One Minute Manager Book” that I read back in the eighties when I was a chef running my catering company “Catering from the Hart”.
Whether your New Year’s Resolutions for 2021 are about losing that extra weight, getting in shape, eating healthier or just feeling better, here are 5 long-range strategies for older adults from the wisdom of Peter Drucker:
Resolve to embrace uncertainty rather than to avoid it
Don't assume that tomorrow will be like today.
It could be but the future is unknown.
And while uncertainty can be unsettling, remember this.
We are all in the same boat.
The only certain thing in life is change so why not embrace it? To embrace uncertainty and support your later years, form a book club or Discussion Group dedicated to learning about the future.
Explore new advances and trends in health, wellness, business technology, education and culture. You can also look at or read biographies of role models or people you know in the public eye that seem adept at navigating uncertainty.
Resolve to seek opportunities in changing conditions
We may not like change, but it's natural, necessary and something to celebrate. Drucker distinguishes between being a change agent (good) and the change leader (better).
The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it he said. To do that you need to see change as an opportunity not a threat.
So rather than just reacting to change, go out and look for it. Think about Jeff Bezos founder of Amazon. He played a huge role in the growth of pioneering e-commerce. You don't need to aspire to his level of success but you should actively search for new possibilities inside and outside of your field.
One suggestion is to interact with people in diverse groups and start reading unfamiliar newspapers magazines blogs and websites to enrich your understanding and get out of your own bubble of thinking.
Resolve to stop and reflect
Every year Peter Drucker carved out time to engage in deep focused introspection. He reflected on how the past year had gone compared with his expectations and any adjustments he needed to make going forward.
As you reflect on your second act in life, maximize your efforts through journaling or mindfulness meditation. By employing practices such as these you can also adopt what's known as beginner's mind in the Zen tradition.
Because in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities - but within the expert’s mind there are few.
Resolve to remove and improve
Your second act will unfold in part to what you STOP doing!
Drucker recommended something called “systematic abandonment” - intentionally dropping activities and relationships that no longer are productive or useful.
He suggested combining this with the Japanese idea of Kaizen which is slow, steady, incremental improvement over time. Take baby steps of experimenting with and iterating to find the sweet spot of self-improvement that works best for you.
A good starting point for this resolution is to make a list of the people, places and things you can live without, then gradually shed them from your life. You can use the newfound time to help create a winning second act.
In order to make room for something new in your life, you must remove something old from your life.
Resolve to make friends with risk
Drucker believed that it was risky to sit back and let the future happen to you. Accept the idea that almost everything carries some element of risk and you can create a space for risk in your life.
Your second act may involve weighing the risks of going back to school, joining a gym, taking an adventure vacation, losing weight, learning new technologies or creating an entrepreneurial venture. At some point though, you'll simply need to take the first step.
As the Chinese philosopher, Lao-Tzu said: The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins beneath one's feet.
“The Journey of a Thousand Miles begins beneath one’s feet.”
I hope you have a better year in 2021 and that you see yourself as someone who has the power to change and grow towards a brighter and happier future.
I am confident this year will be good and hopefully, without the challenges, we dealt with in 2020 - the year the world changed due to a pandemic, racial unrest and political divides.
Have a great holiday and a Happy New Year!