It's that time of the year once again when we can't help but consciously or unconsciously make New Year's resolutions. There's just something about ushering in a New Year that has most of us excited and hopeful about all the wonderful prospects and possibilities we imagine lie ahead of us and the positive changes we wish to embrace in our lives. The New Year seems to offer some sort of magical reset button that allows us to do things anew or at least differently and offers us a blank or clean slate on which to re-write our story.
Whatever our resolutions might be, I am sure we can all agree on one thing; they make us feel absolutely resolved as we determine to see them through this time around and finally make the new year "OUR YEAR". The unfortunate thing about New Year resolutions is that they are usually short-lived evidenced by the dwindling number of gym attendants by March of each year and fizzle out with as much gusto as they were originally set.
I stopped consciously making new year's resolutions a few years back when I realized I wasn't great at keeping them and the fact that the same resolutions kept showing up on my subsequent years' lists. I knew something had to give if I were to ever fulfill them. I decided instead right then and there to treat my resolutions as goals, taking care to assign a deadline to each and performing some consistent action regularly towards fulfilling it.
The more I thought about resolutions, the more I realized that all the things I wanted and resolved to do whether it was nurturing my relationships, making my health a priority or making better choices in life were all things I should have been doing in the first place. I didn't need a New Year to push or inspire me in that direction or make me realize their importance; what I needed to do was make concerted effort and take action towards making my "resolutions" a reality and part of my day-to-day life.
I believe the reason we fail to meet and stick to our New Year's resolutions is because we sometimes view them as a means to an end as opposed to a new way of doing things or a lifestyle change, and as a result throw in the towel when we face obstacles or challenges, don't achieve the results we seek or get distracted by other things. I truly believe that if we value something and attach enough importance to it, making a commitment to following through with it and bringing it to fruition becomes easier.
In order for our resolutions to stick; I believe we need to employ the following:
Have a strong enough "Why" - What does your resolution mean to you? Why is accomplishing it important to you? Answering these two questions will allow you to determine just how important your resolution is to you and what course of actions you need to take towards accomplishing it; where to direct your attention and efforts as well as help keep you motivated and on track.
Have a deadline - Similar to a goal without a deadline; a resolution without a deadline is just that, a resolution and will continue to remain a dream; something you someday hope to accomplish thereby creating no sense of urgency on your part and increasing the likelihood that you won't follow through on it.
Consistent action - I don't care what it is you hope to accomplish; you will never get what you want unless you take some sort of consistent action towards your goal. Whatever action you take towards your resolution no matter how trivial it might seem at the moment will help get you one step closer to your goal.
Resilience - It is only those who stick in the race that cross the finish line. We have to be willing to see things through and to an end if we are ever to accomplish anything we set out to do. It's easy to quit when things get hard or uncomfortable. We need to remember that quitters never win and winners never quit.
Have an accountability partner - There truly is strength in numbers. There are times when we can't go it alone and need someone to help keep us on track, motivated and accountable. Sharing goals with like-minded people who support and believe in us might just be the springboard we need to catapult us to our goals and dreams and should never be underestimated.
Realistic Expectations - I am all for dreaming and thinking big, however, I am also a great believer in the fact that we have to learn how to crawl before we can walk and that being realistic is often very necessary when setting goals. Although the goals you set for yourself should be stretch you, they should also be attainable, reasonable and practical.
As we take on this New Year and everything it has in store for us; let us be reminded that we don't need a New Year to prove to ourselves that we are worthy of our dreams and all the positive changes we wish to make in our lives. We don't need a New Year to inspire us to take the actions we have been meaning to take and know we should take neither do we need a New Year to remind us to unearth goals and dreams we have long since buried.
Each new day presents us an opportunity to do things anew and a chance to re-write our story; let us be so vigilant as to not miss out on all the opportunities life abundantly presents us!!!