Better New Year’s Resolutions

Usually, even if we do make any New Year resolutions, we either forget them or give up. Good intentions that gradually fade away. Not necessarily through lack of intent or effort, but because by mid-January, life happens. Something unexpected happens and we miss a day at the gym. Then one day turns into two and that’s it for the year.

I believe that it’s partly because we don’t go deep enough. We have a vague thought that it would be nice to be in better shape, but the desire isn’t strong enough. Maybe it’s not what really matters most to us, or maybe it’s just too uncomfortable or inconvenient to get to the gym often enough.

If you’re a photographer or filmmaker, I’ve put together a guide/worksheet to help. It’s partially based on the excellent ‘Year Compass’ and I’ve included a few links in the document for further inspiration. The idea is to print it out (or edit onto the pdf file) and spend a little while thinking about and planning some specific actions. To understand what matters to us, and to plan a few systems or habits to make sure we’re heading in the right direction. Then hopefully those vague goals actually start to happen.

Too often I think many of us drift along, letting life happen. Maybe a few of us put too much pressure on ourselves too - that we become stressed with the need to achieve. But the point of goals is to make sure that we’re working towards the things that matter most to us in the long run. Ideally that should take some pressure off, especially once we start to form the habits that take us in the right direction.

You can download the worksheet here, and I’d love to hear if you have any feedback or suggestions. Or just let me know what goals you’re aiming towards in 2023.

Thanks, and happy new year!