On the right foot: My New Year’s Resolutions for 2020

So here we are, a new year, a new decade starting and ever the optimist, I am trying to start 2020 on the right foot, with the best of intentions, aspirations & goals, starting with my new year's resolutions... Studies show that 4 out of 5 people will break their New Year’s Resolutions, so whilst I don’t believe in making resolutions per se, I do find setting regular quarterly and half-year goals useful, helping me focus on longer-term aims & goals. Being an optimistic sort of tribe, plenty of us at Cast UK have already set Q1 goals, either personal or professional. A couple of years ago I undertook some training sessions with Andrew Silitoe, who recommends his 4 Keys method whereby you divide your goals into 4 distinct areas of Work, Body, Mindset & Wellness, and Relationships (if you are interested he’s written a book about his methods here), so this is the format I have used to categorise my aims. In general, most of my colleagues at Orange Towers are focusing their new year's resolutions around health & healthy eating targets, spending personal time more constructively and achieving professional goals. Research says you are much more likely to keep your resolutions if you tell someone else about them so what better way than to announce them on our company blog?

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

So here’s mine...

Work: Officially launch our new TaaS (Talent Aquisition as a Service) brand in Q1, update our existing product portfolio and help our Sales director Gary deliver our targets for the first half of the year.

Health: Lose one stone (minimum), Complete Dry January, and exercise at least three times a week.

Mindset & Wellness: Listen to or read a business book once a month.

Family / Friends: Spend some quality time with the kids every weekend.

While you might not think resolutions are a good idea, taking inspiration from others & setting relevant goals on a regular basis can be helpful, especially if they are specific & measurable. It’s all well & good making resolutions but you’ll probably be a lot more successful in keeping them if you use the SMART methodology.

To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:

S - Specific (simple, sensible, significant). M - Measurable (meaningful, motivating). A - Achievable (agreed, attainable). R - Relevant (reasonable, realistic and resourced, results-based). T - Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).

(Find out more about the SMART method here)

Some of my colleagues’ inspirations & goals are similar to mine, as you would expect when it comes to new year's resolutions after the Christmas break – Gary & Matt share similar fitness improvement goals (although I am not sure I could ever do Gary’s goal of completing a marathon in under 4 hours!), while it does appear popular to reduce time spent on mobile phones in favour of reading more.

Here’s our Sales Director Gary’s:

Work: Assign time each month to think strategically about our sales plan and work more closely with Marketing & L&D to help improve sales revenue.

Health: Run the Liverpool Marathon is sub 4 hours (24th May). Lose 1.5 stone in weight so it’s easier to carry my backside around 26.2 miles.

Mindset & Wellness: Listen to 1 business coaching or self-development audio book per a month.

While Matt, Suzanne, Liv and Lindsay are using more of a KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid):

Matt;  Get more sleep, read more books and buy a property.

Suzanne; I would like to cut down the time I spend on Instagram – by about 30 mins a day! I currently spend way too much time scrolling through it in the evening, usually looking at pointless photos, sometimes of people I don't even know! I’d also like to get back in the gym, at least twice a week.

Olivia; Drink one glass of water for every two teas I drink, start a skincare routine, don’t check my work emails after 19:00, more gym classes, save more money and finally give one thing up every month for a month (i.e. not drinking wine this month, giving up crisps next month etc…)

Lindsay; Manage my finances better (I’m terrible and always have been), get back running, do at least 4 CrossFit competitions, put my phone down more and read instead, meditate daily (I stopped doing this towards the end of last year), be more present (mentally) & live in the moment, and get outdoors as much as possible!

Some of us are about to embark on a year of organisation & consolidation, such as one of our newer recruits, James, whose new year's resolutions broadly focus around settling and building a future with his new wife:

“My personal goals are all linked to settling and building a future with my new wife who’s from the Ukraine.”

Personal Goals; We’re heavily into the visa process so getting this finalised before beginning house hunting to settle in our new home is a clear goal for me. Unfortunately, we’ve had some set-backs in the process but we’re pushing to finalise it by the end of April and have booked a mini-trip to Paris in March to try and take a bit of the pressure off before then.

Work goals; I’m very focussed on my job and career at the moment, so I can build a better future for both me & my wife. I’m aiming to build more relationships with clients, maintain the ones I currently have, and ensure I’m doing a consistently good job for all. In terms of progression, I’m eager to move into a more leadership-based role by the end of the year as I already have extensive management experience and I think this is a strength. I’m hoping that moving closer to work is also going to help my productivity, but unfortunately I’m waiting on my wife’s visa before I can commit to this.

Health goals; “I already eat a good diet and exercise regularly, but it remains important to me that I maintain this. In terms of sleep – I’m already being stricter on myself about having a period of ‘rest’ before going to bed as I’m a terrible sleeper. I’ve also been trying a white noise app to help me fall asleep!”

Rosie, meanwhile, has set these new year's resolutions:

Work: Exceed Q1 target aiming to hit Achievers Target to get on our trip to Budapest (Q1 is always my most successful).

Health; Eat vegetarian/pescatarian only (apart from when eating out), prepare healthy work lunches at home to bring in and go to the gym 3 times a week. Mindset / Wellness; Read 2 books a month instead of wasting time on mobile phone.

Personal; Save £10k this year, complete “No-buy January” (only buying food and necessities such as toiletries) and donate to charity each month.

Last but not least, these are Kerry’s:

Health: Visit gym twice a week (once with the kids), drink 2L water a day, 2 vegetarian meals a week and get back to physio sessions to improve mobility.

Mindset & Wellness; Read books / listen to podcasts in place of time on social media / news apps, try to be more in the moment - after all there’s no point about stressing about things you’re not doing at that moment! Increase sleep to 7 hours a night.

Work: Launch TaaS Talent team website & plan campaign launch, and learn animation software.

Family & Friends; Spend more time being outdoors & getting exercise as a family, and help my kids take responsibility for their own things & for organising themselves (wish me luck with that one folks!).

If you have made resolutions and would like a little advice on how to keep them, check out this article from CNN here. Or how about undertaking a course set up online by Harvard university to improve your general happiness in 2020? Take a look at this Corsera online course designed to increase your own happiness here.

So there you have it, some of Team Orange’s inspirations and new year's resolutions for 2020.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that we all achieve our aims & update you in a couple of months as to how we’re all getting on. Wish us luck!