Happy 2021! This is it, a start of a new decade. What a perfect time to set some hot new tea-solutions… joking, I mean new year’s resolutions of course.

You’re probably thinking… “Yeah right… it’s not my first rodeo. You’ll probably tell me to write down a few sentences on a piece of paper and by mid February, I won’t even remember what they were.”

I get you pal, we’ve all been there. But I promise you, that these tips actually will be worth your while. So make sure to read till the end (because that’s where our downloadable cheatsheet is waiting for you). Yay!

1. Have a vision

Ah yes, the power of visualisation! What can I say, it really does work. The key here is that your vision should get you EXCITED!
If you want to loose weight – what will your perfect body look like? If you want to get rich, how much money (exactly) will you have? You want to move into a new house? How will it look like? Close your eyes and take 5 minutes to actually picture yourself living your dream. Walk around your new house and touch all the hyper-stylish furniture you’ll own. Or look at yourself in the mirror, admiring your beautiful toned body.
Now imagine that you’ve already achieved your goal. Does it make you feel excited? Yes? GOOD! Hang onto that feeling.

Sometimes, it’s easier to actually have something visual in front of you. I’ve made a vision board for myself, where I’ve included all the things I want to achieve in 2021. One of them is this badly photoshopped photo of teapro’s future office.
All I’ve done is stick a logo on a generic office photo, but it somehow makes it more real for me. And it get’s me excited!  Doesn’t this reception desk look like a tea cup?

Unlike most people, I didn’t actually print out my vision board, but I’ve saved it on my phone and I look at it every night before I go to sleep. I’m even thinking to set myself an alarm, so I don’t forget to do it in the future.

SUPER IMPORTANT: when you look at your vision board, or visualise your goals – make sure to actually get excited about them. That way you’re training your subconscious into believing that these goals are already on their way and dismiss your natural resistance (we all have that tiny ugly voice in our heads saying that we’re not good enough).

2. Get Specific

Ok! Now that you know what you want and can’t wait to achieve your dream, you need to break it up into SMART goals. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Bound).
For example if want to reduce your social media addiction, you might want to:

Specific / Relevant: Reduce time spent on Facebook and Instagram
Measurable / Achievable : to 2 hours a day
Time-Bound: by end of January

To make it easier for you, we have included lots of examples of SMART goals in our downloadable cheatsheet!

3. Find a FUN angle to your Challenges

This is by far my favourite trick and the reason why you’re not going to abandon your resolutions by the end of the month! See, when we set ourselves challenges or resolutions, they always seem such a drag… eurgh…. no wonder, no one sticks to them!

But you, my friend, are now in on a secret! The key is to reframe your mind and find a fun substitute to whatever you’re trying to avoid.
If you’re trying to avoid booze this January, how about you turn “Dry January” into “Chai January”? (And if you need to get new chai supplies, you know where to find it!)
Jokes aside, it doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as you can distract your mind from whatever challenge you’ve set yourself and turn it into something fun instead.

4. Create Positive Habits

This is another big one. It’s very hard to achieve permanent change, unless you manage to create new habits.
Personally, I like to use daily to do lists for those. For example, last year I’ve set myself a challenge to do yoga every morning. Guess what? I was pretty crap at sticking to the plan, until I started including it into my daily to do list.
I like writing my to do lists in the evening, while sipping a cup of tea.

The lesson learned is, if your resolution is something proactive, like learning a new skill – make sure to schedule it into your diary. Otherwise, it will never happen.

5. Reward Yourself

We’re always very hard on ourselves whenever we fail to do something. But how often do we actually celebrate our achievements? Take 2 minutes at the end of each day to think about all the things that went well! Enjoy that moment and be proud! If you had a good week, why don’t reward yourself with something special? You could go to a cinema or book yourself a pampering session?

6. Your Motivation Strategy

Who are we kidding? There will be times, 3-4 months down the line when life gets in the way. You had all these amazing resolutions at the beginning of the year, but now you’ve lost your mo-tea-vation. Do not worry! In your cheat sheet we’ve made a list of the best quotes and motivational talks, that are sure to pick you up whenever you’re feeling low.
You can also create your own motivation strategy – a compilation of music, videos, photos and quotes designed to get you back on track!

You can also join our Motivational Quotes Pinterest Group Board 🙂

If increasing your happiness levels is part of your New Year’s resolutions, check out this article: 5 Self-Care Habits for a Happier You

7. Nobody’s Perfect!

Last but not least. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Yes, there will be days (maybe even weeks) when work will be stressful and things might not go your way, so your new years resolutions will probably be the last thing you’ll be thinking about.
So what? You’re not a robot, give yourself some slack. Skip a week and then you go back on track.
Always have your vision in sight and keep dreaming!

PS: If you feel like you’d like to contemplate the meaning of life, because it’s part of your New Years Wellbeing Challenge, or just because it feels good – check out our Tao Te Ching audio series (released every Monday and Thursday).
Tom and I have hugely benefited from reading this book and we wanted to share this gift with you.

Tao Te Ching – the way of life