The Western New Year catches us unawares. The Eastern one is a far more planned event
February is looming – one twelfth of the year behind us, and with it are also going around *80% of the new year’s resolutions people were so adamant about just one month ago. In our Bank of MeTM programme we work with many, many people that set great goals, but fail to achieve them. Why?
There are several reasons why people give up – some goals are just too grand, others too hard and sometimes just getting through the cold and dark days of January makes the extra work too much of a burden. But, if we look to China and how their culture prepares them for their new year, we see a different approach and a focus on preparation that we don’t often witness with our own, western new year planning or resolutions.
In the run-up to the Chinese New Year, those celebrating spend time preparing to welcome it in. This can include deep cleaning the house, buying new linen, new clothes, preparing festive food and decorating. It’s all about creating the right environment to support the change that a new year can bring – it’s so much more than simply turning over a page in the calendar.
This analogy can be extended to cover how we, as people, approach growth and the mental preparation that is needed to make ourselves ready for something new. We must be open, and the groundwork has to be in place for the new to arrive, settle in, and stay.
Our resolutions were probably made quickly – “I would like to achieve this thing, so on the 1st of January I’m going to start working towards it”. That’s nowhere near enough – it’s like trying to build a house without a foundation.
We are intentional in preparing for many of the things we do, often without even thinking about it. For a holiday we plan what we’re going to pack, work out when we need to be at the airport, book hotels and taxis and perhaps even read some restaurant reviews. Very few of us wake up, book a taxi to the airport, and leave the rest to fate.. But for many of the most life-changing choices we skip that preparation – simply declaring “I’m going to lose weight”, “I’m going to manage my finances better”, or “I’m going to learn a new language” without making a plan for how to get from where we are to where we want to be. We end up starting the journey without a map to guide us on our way to improvement and that means we lose our way. You can buy the fancy new exercise bike, but if you haven’t worked out what time of day and which days you’re going to ride it, it’s just a clothes horse.
Preparation means seeing where blockers to you achieving your goals might arise and pre-empting them: calendars get busy, so what do you do if you miss your spinning class to stay on track? If you don’t make it to the shops, do you have a store of healthy “emergency food” that you can go to rather than relying on a takeaway?
This preparation and focus can make your personal
growth journey far easier.
Leaning further into the Chinese New Year – it assigns the traits of different animals to successive years and, whether you’re a believer or not, this year’s animal is very appropriate to our topic. The Year of the Snake is deeply symbolic of transformation, growth, and wisdom, making it significant for self-discovery and renewal. Drawing from the snake’s ability to shed its skin, it represents the capacity to leave behind old patterns, embrace change, and emerge renewed. The Snake’s energy invites you to trust the natural cycles of growth and change, ensuring that even the smallest transformations pave the way for profound personal evolution.
A new skill, new job or any other improvement that you’re likely to make will take up space in your life, be that physical, mental, or simply time. We need to make room, and that takes planning. As the old axiom goes, “Fail to prepare and you prepare to fail”. It’s what the snake would do.
Borrowing from our Bank of Me thinking, here are three approaches that will help you achieve your long-term goals:
1. Make it a sequence of small measurable steps – define where you are now and where you want to get to in measurable terms (“I will lose 5kg in 10 weeks”, “I will run 5k in 2 months”, or “I will complete 30 language lessons in a month”, for example), and track your progress against those goals at regular intervals. The progress you see will be addictive!
2. Create time, space and value around them – make appointments for yourself in your calendar to contribute to achieving your goals: place them on an equal footing with work commitments (5pm Gym, 8pm Language Study). Tell people you are busy during these times – they are important tasks and should have a high status. And, spend 10 minutes at the beginning of every week identifying if you need to move anything, to retain ownership of the process and progress.
3. Plan around the blockers – make a list identifying five things that could block you on your path, and develop a strategy for how to counter them when they crop up. For example, buy some exercise bands and watch some videos to learn how to use them, in case you can’t make it to the gym one day. Add to this list as further unexpected events happen. It won’t always be a smooth road, but it’s never hard to find your way back.
Join us in welcoming in the Chinese New Year, and embracing the Year of the Snake – welcoming personal change and growth, and being far more intentional about how to prepare for significant life and work events. Remember, your ‘personal bank account’ of energy, focus and motivation is highly impacted by any change. Do the things that keep it in the Black, and don’t let a lack of preparation put you in the Red.
