There is a good chance you are not in the New Year’s goal setting mode anymore.

Hopefully.

A study I read claims that 96% of all goals we set for a new year are on the (permanent) back burner within 21 days.

We know that.

But have you ever given it a deeper thought why this happens? And what, if anything, can be done about it?

Paul Watzlawick, the late author of “The Situation Is Hopeless, But Not Serious: The Pursuit of Unhappiness” (and fellow Austrian) once said: “complex problems are best solved with simple solutions”.

And this is very true here as well: most New Year’s resolutions are about superficial or external goals, but not in sync with our deeper needs, and lack the inspiration and motivation needed for their implementation.

Because if – deep down – we ask ourselves: “Is this everything life has to offer, everyday the same routine? Isn’t there more to it than increasing profits or making more money?”,  stopping to smoke, eating more healthy, doing more sports is simply “cosmetical” only.

What is missing is the inner fire. When we were younger we had dreams, ambitions, hopes that we can do something great.

And I’m not saying that we should dig up the old dreams. “Great” probably means something different to you now. But there is still some “small great thing” inside us which would love to come to the surface – and which we have suppressed over the years because of the urgent demands of life.

We have not learned how to deal with life’s real questions in school. But now we have the experience, have suffered from the rollercoaster life sometimes is – and therefore know better, what is really important to us (and for others) in life.

Therefore it is easy, definitely easier than 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

And the first step is to ask yourself:

What is it that would give you real satisfaction, meaning and happiness in your life?

What is it you can do with your talents and experience to help someone else, to contribute to make the world a better place, to live a meaningful life?

And don’t allow your “little inner voice” to block you (again) when it says “forget it, this can’t be done, because ……..”.

Rather, finding an answer to this question will make everything else much easier.

Smile, breathe, and go slowly!