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A Clear Path - 20/20 in 2020

personal Jan 07, 2020

Having 20/20 vision means you have normal visual clarity and sharpness. In other words, it means you can clearly see at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance.  So how can we bring ‘20/20 vision’ to 2020 and make the upcoming decade extraordinary?

Well, perhaps start with Idealism.

As the first few lines of the Idealism card say, "Idealism is having a vision of what is possible and wanting to make a difference. It is caring passionately about what is meaningful in life. Idealists see things as they could be and have faith in the power of change. We put our principles into practice.”

 

If there ever were a time to be idealistic, it is now. What is most important and meaningful for you in your life? What do you envision is possible this month, this year, or this decade? Finally, what difference(s) are you passionate about making?

Some people may think that idealism is only a mindset, but true idealists make change happen. For vision to be successful, desires must become actions and actions must eventually become habits.  As many of us who make new year’s resolutions know, we can easily come up short despite our best intentions.

So, what can we do to  turn actions into habits? In addition to using well-known strategies like triggers, rewards, and reminders, we can use something called implementation intentions to anchor habits to our identities.  This roots actions more deeply, raising the stakes when we perform (or don’t perform) because we are either reinforcing or disregarding our ideals.

To use an implementation intention, fill-in the following sentence:

 I will (behavior)

because I am the type of person who (why/identity)

because I believe…

because I value…

because I know…

For example, if your goal was to be more mindful, your implementation intention could be, “I will meditate every day when I wake up because I am the type of person that values mindfulness and I know that starting my day with a consistent practice helps me be more positive.” Try it and see how it works.

One of our favorite expressions at Virtues Matter is, “little hinges swing big doors."  Essentially, small changes can make big impacts. No matter what your goals are in 2020 and beyond, we hope that using implementation intentions or other daily practices will be a hinge that allows you to open new doors and make this years’ habits stick. If it is, we would love to hear about it! (If not, still let us know).

Our idealism has us committed to making content that is meaningful and useful for you. Keep in touch and follow us @virtuesmatter on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.