Making Unbreakable New Year's Resolutions for 2005

Mr Gilbert Labour was interviewed in the Sydney Daily Telegraph around this time last year (December, 04) and was asked what was the characteristic or quality of New Year's resolutions that made some stick and others fall by the wayside.

One year on (December, 05) after working with many life coaching clients from all walks of life with a myriad of goals and crystallising his experience into the forthcoming book Life Coaching for DODOs, Mr Labour makes these observations about New Year's Resolutions.

There is a reason why most New Year's resolutions are made then broken, some almost immediately on waking up the next day with a hangover, some perhaps up to 2 or 3 weeks after being made when the additional effort, change or work required is realised.

In all cases the resolution is broken because the change required from the normal day to day routine of work and home is just too great. It is too great a departure from the normal daily routine.

People underestimate the inertia of their current job, their chosen role at work and at home, their partner, their friends and colleagues and associates, their current habits, their current tastes and family responsibilities.

A resolution that is a major change both in direction and magnitude of current activity has no hope of succeeding unless an interim transition takes place that provides a period of preparation for the changeover.

A successful New Year's resolution is one that builds on existing or past activity or skills. If you walk to lots of places then extending that walk a bit longer and eventually into jogging is not a big stretch. There must be a connection between what is desired and what had gone on before.

A New Year's resolution may require a life coaching program no less and requires the same effort a life coaching program might take to achieve. For example if you are 250 kilos, smoke 2 packets of cigarettes a day and drink a quart of whisky making a New Year's resolution to get to 80 kilos and to stop drinking and smoking and become a champion runner or salsa dancer is just an impossible target. For this goal, a life coaching program lasting 18 months or more may be more realistic as this fundamental change cannot be achieved alone or within a short space of time.

A link to the Sydney Daily Telegraph story referred to above is attached to this Press Release.

About Mr Gilbert Labour. Mr Labour is Mauritian born but lives in Sydney, Australia. Mr Labour has developed a life and executive coaching web site that provides a comprehensive resource and service for coaches and their clients. A unique element of this site is a daily thoughts column rich in personal insights, advice and philosophy which is freely available to all visitors. In pursuit of his world-wide coaching activities, Mr Labour is hosting an Executive Coaching Retreat and Workshop in Mauritius in June, 05.