Well ? How are those resolutions going ? You may have decided upon a serious target for 2018, be it losing weight, giving up smoking, managing your alcohol intake or training for a marathon. Or perhaps you just want to do something as simple as cleaning out the cupboard under the sink.
But after two weeks you may be discovering that resolutions are not so easy to keep. According to an article in the Times yesterday, statistics from fitness trackers show that 12 January marks the greatest falling - off from exercise resolutions with a 17% drop-out rate that day. As experience shows all of us, a resolution which exists simply as a resolution is not so easy to keep. In order to succeed, a resolution needs be rooted in some inner conviction - you must really want to do it - and you must be able to envision it, both in the details of its execution and in the outcome it will deliver.
Willpower by itself is of limited effect. A recent study showed that smokers who wished to give up smoking were five times more likely to succeed if their willpower was supported by hypnotherapy as well, and solution - focused hypnotherapy starts by clarifying what you want before enabling you to complete an inner vision of what you need to do to achieve your goal, and what the outcome will look and feel like.
So how do you start trying to identify what you want ? The Japanese, perhaps not surprisingly, have an elegant and concise word for it; 'ikigai', which might loosely be translated as 'a reason for being'. Instead of listing your goals in isolation, start from where you are, start from your heart. Write down three lists - your values, things you like doing and things you are good at. See if there is a cross - section across the lists that naturally presents itself, and if so, that is where the flow will begin as well.