Your New Year’s Resolutions Will Fail, If You Don’t Do This First
Why Goals Alone Aren’t Enough, And We Need Something More
The New Year is approaching and resolutions abound.
Many people excitedly set goals for the new year, while others set them out of obligation, or have given up on goal-setting altogether.
You’re better off with goals than without them, but there is something critical to prioritize this new year — our values.
Most people postpone a fulfilling life today for achieving a goal tomorrow.
Here are several benefits for placing your values in front of your goals this new year.
You Benefit When Your Goals Exist to Serve Your Values
Where there are goals without values there is also discontentment, frustration, and endless struggle.
Often times the struggle for goals never ends because it’s human nature to get stuck running on our hedonic treadmills — also known as hedonic adaptation.
Hedonic adaptation raises our expectations as success ensues. The pursuit of happiness is like running on a treadmill, where we must keep moving to merely stay in the same place.
Instead, we should move away from simple achievement and toward engaging with our values. Goals alone will never tap our hearts and lead us to meaning, fulfillment, and purpose
Your values can fuel your trajectory in life. You’ll have goals, but they’ll be less important than living true to what’s most meaningful to you.
By connecting your goals to your values you’ll have a greater opportunity to live effortlessly, extinguishing the endless struggle and start living a more enriching life.
What You Are Striving For, You Can Have Right Now
Goals tend to put off living a fulfilling life today for pursuing tomorrow’s achievement.
Where there are goals there is also an inherent gap between where you are and where you want to be.
This gap can lead to dissatisfaction in life, leading you and me to get caught on a treadmill, pursuing more rather than savoring where we are this very moment.
Goals focus on what we lack and who we someday want to be. Values, on the other hand, focuses on what we have and who we are right now.
20th Century Art Teacher, Robert Henri says, “the object of painting a picture is not to make a picture — however unreasonable this may sound. The picture, if a picture results, is a by-product and may be useful, valuable, interesting as a sign of what has passed.”
He goes on to say, “The object, which is back of every true work of art, is the attainment of a state of being, a high state of functioning, a more than ordinary moment of existence.”
Our lives are no different than a work of art. Achievement becomes a by-product of engaging with your values through intention and action.
”You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that.” — John Wooden
It is our values that fuel our intention for how we show up and engage with today. This values-fueled approach to life enables you to have what you want right now.
What you want isn’t out in the far distant future. It’s right here ready to engage.
Here’s An Example Of Living Your Values Versus Striving For Achievement
Let’s pretend you want to be a millionaire — you want to have time and money to live life on your terms.
You spend every year setting goals on moving toward this goal while also feeling discontent in your current life’s circumstances. You might even be experiencing progress but it never seems to be enough — possibly because you’re running on a treadmill.
Take a moment to unpack your big hairy audacious goal of becoming a millionaire (or whatever it is for you).
- What is it about that goal that is so appealing to you?
- Once you accomplish it what will it allow you to do, or be that you can’t do or be today?
- What does “living life on your terms” look like? How would you spend your time?
What came to mind for you? Maybe you told yourself that you’d travel to France, eat fine dining cuisine, spend more time with your family, coach your son’s baseball team, or have the time to work on creative endeavors that are deeply meaningful to you.
Well, What Are You Waiting For?
How much of what came to mind for you requires you being a millionaire?
When you reflected on how you’d spend your time, what does that have to say about your values?
“How many on their deathbeds wished they’d spent more time at the office — or watching TV? The answer is, no one. They think about their loved ones, their families, and those they served.” — Stephen R. Covey
This exercise will bring to light what your values are. Family, Adventure, and Creativity might be evident themes for you.
You can start living these values right not. You don’t have to wait to be a millionaire.
If you want to travel to France because you love the food and culture. Then go buy a $12 book on France, learn the language, learn to cook from French cookbooks, and get to know the regions that you’d someday want to visit.
You can begin enjoying France today. Naturally, it would be better to be in France, eating the food, and drinking Bordeaux; and you should make plans to travel there — save the money, and go. What’s really stopping you?
This is only an example of course, but it can be applied to many endeavors in our lives. Look for the underlying values behind what you are striving for, and begin engaging with those values immediately.
Engaging With Your Values Today Empowers You to Achieve Your Goals Tomorrow
When you are living from your values, the actual goals become a lot less important.
They become less important and more likely to be achieved because you are tapping your energy source — your values.
“Goals tell you what you want but values tell you why you want them.” — Mark Freeman
Your values fuel you onward and upward toward what you want most in life, providing it to you every step along the way.
Motivation is found whenever you engage in taking action that aligns with your values. Imagine yourself doing engaging with your values every day, will you not be more motivated then merely grinding to “hit your goals”?
Living your values leads to motivation, motivation turns into momentum. From momentum, comes progress.
When progress is aligned with our values it not only brings goal-achievement but also a rich, fulfilling, and meaningful journey every step of the way.
Conclusion
You will be more likely to achieve your goals if you put your values first, giving you more flexibility to enjoy the inevitable ups and downs of your journey.
Goals focus on achievement tomorrow. Values lead to fulfillment today.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman
This New Year, spend more time unpacking the values of your life before you even think about setting another goal.
Create a plan to engage with your values more consistently every day. Eventually, you’ll identify some goals and you’ll know exactly why you are pursuing them.
And because you first aligned your goals with your values, you’ll be more likely to achieve them.
Start enjoying your journey; and experience how practicing your values today will be just as rewarding — if not more so — than any future accomplishments.
