Happy New Year! Now that we’re a few weeks in, I hope your new year is off to a fulfilling and successful start.

If you’re having trouble keeping your new year’s resolutions but you still want to make some changes this year, read my article below on how to create a theme for the year. A theme is a way of showing up in the world, the qualities you’ll bring forth and the impact you’ll make each day, week and month of the year.

Also, check out USA Today’s recent feature of my practice as a life/career coach for working mothers and Bay Area Parent’s recent interview with me on how to make important life changes. Happy reading and here’s to your new year!

Ditch the Resolutions and Create Real, Lasting Change

I’m not a big fan of New Year’s Resolutions. Even with the best intentions, resolutions tend to lose momentum and fizzle out in the first few weeks of the year. You’re left feeling like you “failed” and you beat yourself up for not following through.

Instead, try setting yourself up for success by looking out over the year ahead and thinking about your theme – a succinct phrase or word that describes how you want to show up in the world; the impact you want to make; your intention for each day of the year. Examples include “going out on a limb,” “feeling good and looking good,” or “enjoying the fruits of my labor.” You get the idea.

Once you have your intention for the year, you can make a list of actions that will help support your intention. For example, for “feeling good and looking good”, perhaps it’s following-through with all those doctor appointments you’ve been putting off; scheduling exercise into your calendar for twice/week and finding a pair of jeans that fit well and you feel great in.

To help anchor your theme so that it has a longer shelf life and you’re reminded of it on a daily and weekly basis, try writing the theme as the screensaver on your computer; as the wallpaper on your phone; or on the front page of your hard copy calendar. The idea is to have it front and center so that each day you’re reminded of your intention for the year. Then, each day, you get to choose what one small, achievable, realistic action step you can take to support your theme.

Over the years, many readers have written in with their themes for the year. I’ve been impressed and moved by the depth, meaning and variety of themes and look forward to hearing from you this year.