2020: a new perspective instead of goals

In my role, I assisted our clients in the lead-up to 2020, helping design learning and strategies to implement mass behaviour change ready for the decade ahead. In some ways it feels like the last few years have flown by, in other ways, it feels like we’ve spent a long time preparing for the time that’s now upon us. 

How was your lead up to 2020?

Do you find yourself wondering if you’re your best self as you prepare for what 2020 and the next decade has in store for you? Were you thinking it was all going to be somehow different?

Personally, I’m a very different person now to who I was in 2010. Things that mattered then, like staying up until midnight to see the New Year in, now make me wonder why I bothered.

I got curious about where exactly I was in 2010 and discovered a selfie in front of the Guggenheim in Bilbao. I remember that New Year’s Eve distinctly, I was in year two of my overseas experience absorbing the local culture and customs. This year’s selfie wasn’t just me, it was with my baby girl and my loving partner on the deck of our house in suburban Wellington. Such a juxtaposition.

As a first-time parent returning to work I decided to come into 2020 with a new perspective. There are no major life-altering resolutions, there are no daily, weekly or monthly ‘things’ I need to tick off to see if I succeeded, or more realistically, failed. There is just my newfound perspective; which is to do the best that I can within the parameters in which I operate, not setting my bar unrealistically high and stressing when I’m unable to achieve it.

For how many years have you been creating resolutions that have lasted a couple of weeks, if you’re lucky, before they fizzle out and you forget about them completely? How many times have you beat yourself up because you weren’t able to stick to a goal? Maybe it seemed like everyone else was achieving theirs and it made you feel like you were not working hard enough. Why do we measure individual successes off what others are doing, especially when those resolutions are ours and ours alone?.

Change your perspective

What if you looked at the New Year with a different perspective too?

Instead of creating a big list of changes, how would you feel about pausing and taking stock of who you are and what you’ve already achieved? Give yourself a confidence boost, instead of a seemingly impossible task list. 

We very rarely pause in our day-to-day lives; we’re constantly rushing from one thing to the next and aren’t always giving our full attention to what we’re doing.

So, the challenge I give you is this:

Sit still.

Take a moment to reflect on you (it may feel weird; we’re often not good at putting ourselves first). Think about who you are, your purpose and where you want to be.

Think about the happiest times you’ve had in the last year or decade; why do those moments stand out?

Now for the flip side; what took you to your lowest? Was it within your control? What did you learn from this?

Are you still sitting still? Have you managed to go this far without looking at your phone, your email or your watch?

I’ve returned to work after a year off and I’m taking it as an opportunity to reset and start things as I mean to go on. I’ve not made any huge sweeping changes, I am still me; it’s my perspective that’s different, resulting in me changing a few things here and there. 

Where will your perspective take you this year?

Now may be your time to look at things differently and if it feels right, change how you do one or two things. There’s no point going crazy and coming up with a huge list, as that’s not setting yourself up to succeed at all. The smallest thing you do may result in the biggest change.

Be you, be confident in who you are and the perspective you bring. It is unique, it is yours and yours alone. Be proud of that.