Pretend for a moment you promised your 5-year-old niece that you’d bring your famous peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies to the holiday party on Saturday. But you get home from work, and you’re exhausted. Do you hunker down and do it anyway? Of course, you do! You can’t disappoint, those big brown eyes and that curly hair.
Now pretend that you only told yourself you’d bring the cookies, and no one else is expecting them. When your feet hurt and your eyes are closing as you walk in the door, do you get to baking? I bet you don’t. I wouldn’t. Good night!
What’s the difference between these two scenarios? Your cookie scheme was a part of something bigger (and cuter) when your niece was involved. In fact, according to an article on Curiosity, that “something bigger” is the key.
There are a few ways you can view your actions as part of something greater than yourself. According to the article, these are all examples of “ego minimization.” In other words, you need to see yourself as only a small part of…you guessed it, #TeamHuman.
Being part of a team
This is the most obvious way to minimize your ego. If you act in order to work together to accomplish something with your team, instead of trying to just be the best individual, you’ll go far.
Knowing others will hold you accountable
Having someone, like your adorable niece, waiting for you to accomplish your goal makes it much harder to wimp out. This is why “accountability buddies” are such a big deal when January 1st rolls around.
Having a “why” that clearly relates to your goal
No matter your role in any scenario, if you know that you’re important to the greater success of the situation, you’ll be happier to do your job. A school bus driver who hated school isn’t going to be as cheerful every morning as someone who knows the importance of education.
As we start to think about our resolutions, it will be important to remember that nobody can do it alone. Once you settle on your goal, take the time to create a plan of attack with one or more of these tactics:
- Have a system for marking down progress each day on your wall or in your planner
- Make regular check-ins with your friend, and offer to hold them accountable for their resolution too
- Write down the “why” behind your goal, i.e., losing weight to get healthier, so you can run that marathon
- Sharing your progress on social media or in a closed Facebook group
Here’s to resolutions that stick, to you and those who cheer you on!
Want more inspiration for 2018? Check out our post on vision boards.
