People often wait until the New Year to try something different: a new haircut, a new diet, a new job, a new significant other, you name it. Humans are creatures of habit who believe that with January 1st comes the magical time to rid themselves of their old skin, to journey down the path unknown, to blossom into some mystical version of themself that somehow didn’t exist on December 31st. Why does it take the start of a new year for us to ignite a fire within ourselves that hopefully won’t diminish and burn out only a few days or weeks later?

Are you a believer in starting fresh and coming out of last year’s cocoon? Do you make up, write down, or say aloud your own new year’s resolutions? I for one have not done it in years and I’m beginning to think that maybe I should. Research shows that people who write down their goals with realistic timelines often achieve them more often than those who do not. The data also points us to successful people who have spoken their dreams out loud to others in their inner circle – thereby forming a type of accountability with someone who is significant to their life. Why do you think this is? Why are dreams more likely to be accomplished if they are written down or spoken out loud?

Accountability plays a key role in a person’s desire to accomplish a goal in their life. By sharing their vision with another person, they speak into existence their desire to do something, be something, try something.  Having a cheerleader so to speak helps keep us afloat when we feel as though we are sinking, it helps us breath when we feel like our life’s dream is suffocating us, it helps us keep a clear mind when we are muddied by thoughts of self-doubt. I often hold my ambitious dreams to myself, not vocalizing them to others and definitely not writing them down on paper. I do this because I fear failure. I fear that I will not be good enough or not strong enough to make my dreams become my reality. So maybe this new year I will change this about myself – I will speak my dreams and goals aloud and have someone hold me accountable to myself. Why not? Truly, what is there to lose? Working towards our dreams should make our lives more fulfilled, more enriched, more engaged. When we challenge ourselves we allow every nerve within our bodies to fire on all cylinders, we allow every fiber to spark and be alive. Isn’t this what life is all about? To take a chance on ourself? To push our own boundaries to see how far we can take ourselves?

So, for 2020 here is my new start: I will be leaving a company I have been a part of for the last 14 years of my life. I am starting a new venture with a different company in an industry I know nothing about. But I am up for the challenge, I am excited for what new journeys I will embark on with this new role. Yes, I know there will be failure and I’m sure I’ll fall flat on my face once or twice, but I also know that I will grow as a person, that my mind will be stretched to learn new and exciting things, that my soul will come alive with the excitement of the new and unknown. I challenge you to find something that you will do that is new and different for yourself. It doesn’t have to be large or small, just something that makes you a little bit uncomfortable, one that leaves you a little breathless, one that sets your own soul on fire. And I wish you the best of luck – but don’t forget to write it down and say it aloud so that someone else can help you celebrate the success you are about to achieve just by believing in you.