by Teboho Seretlo

2021 is gone and here we are in the first days of 2022, with 52 weeks at our disposal. The first weeks of January, that crazy time when we are tempted to put together some new year’s resolutions that we may never look at again until 2023 comes, and we do the same exercise again.

When I was a small child, I used to believe in the Tooth Fairy. I put my milk tooth under the pillow and made a wish with a promise/resolution to the Fairy, just for good measure. In my head, the resolution would increase the chances of my wish to the Fairy being granted. Was this the start of resolutions at a very basic level?

I grew up and discovered that, actually, the Tooth Fairy does not exist…. Oh sigh. I had to find something else that older children believed in. Enter the Father Xmas phase. The resolutions and promises graduated into bigger things. “I promise and resolve that I will listen to my parents and do all my chores like clock-work, if only you can grant me that shiny bicycle Santa”

Lo and behold, I grew up some more and discovered that Santa, just like the Tooth Fairy, actually does not exist. So, what now? Enter the teen magazines which I used to love reading so much, including my Mom’s copies of Fair Lady Magazine. For my parents were very big on getting us to read; they had subscriptions to all sorts of magazines including the Readers Digest; something that developed my hobby of reading which I still enjoy to this day.

I then started doing my new year’s resolutions diligently from when I was a teen, well into my adult life. As I continued the journey of life, I remained an avid reader and came across several self-development books and phrases that taught me a few things such as “what is your why?”, “how to work towards being a better version of yourself”, “creating a future self”, “Start with the end in mind” etc.

Well, these books taught me that actually, new year’s resolutions are easily broken, within a short few months, if not weeks, of the new year. Why is that? I just used to do a list, without putting in much thought on why I was putting these things on the list. I did not know my why. I guess what was more important for me at that time was to tick the box “yay, I have done my new year’s resolutions for this year” and give myself a pat on the back.

Lately, I no longer do my new year’s resolutions list, but I work on a 3-month cycle where I have identified my vision and the 4 most important things that will make me a better version of myself and create my future self. The 3-month cycle does not necessarily coincide with the calendar month of year-end. It is currently a cycle that runs from 15th November to 15th February, simply because this is what I started practicing after attending an online course by Prof Benjamin Hardy called “the 30-day future self programme”. I have managed to identify these 4 major things that will help me attain my vision (start with the end in mind- your vision). My “resolutions” are tied to these 4 things, and more importantly, I look at my progress weekly, tweak, add and move along. I have evolved from the old way of doing my new year’s resolutions into something more intentional and meaningful. I wish the same for you. Before you create a new list of resolutions, revisit and see how you have progressed, learn from your mistakes, and move along to becoming a better you.

HAPPY 2022!

Teboho Seretlo is the managing director and founder of Seretlo Investments (Pty) Ltd, a business support services consultancy which assists micro, small and medium enterprises with business intelligence support, business plans and investor pitch decks, funding applications, business cost optimization and business improvement processes. She also ran a franchised premium dry-cleaning outlet of her own for 5 years. She holds a BSc (Hons) in Maths from University of Fort Hare, Management Development Programme (MDP) from GIBS and an International Executive Development Programme (IEDP) GIBS & Rotterdam School of Management. She has over 25 years working experience with corporates such as Nedbank, Momentum, The Coca-Cola Company, SABreweries and Unilever, where she gained experience in a variety of disciplines including B-BBEE &transformation, financial management & budgeting, project management, decision-support, business strategy & analysis as well as research. She is passionate about gender issues and does volunteer work for women empowerment organisations.