Easy to forecast that there will be about a million articles, blog posts, Facebook statuses and tweets dealing with New Year's Resolutions. There will be triple the number of opinions on doing them or not doing...how you should do them or how you shouldn't do them...why you should do them or why shouldn't do them that way...and on and on.
I'll tell you right off the bat, this posting is in favor of doing them. Many of those opinions mentioned above will tell you not to waste your time. They'll say that New Year's Resolutions just set you up for failure. And, well, they are mostly correct. Most of us get psyched about the New Year, the clean slate, new beginnings, we make a big grandiose list of our dreams and desires and wants. But then the old habits trump the new desires and the gravity of the day to day pulls us back down to earth. The next thing we know, is that it is March and we've forgotten all about our list.
There in lies one of the problems.
We probably didn't make a plan or chart a course on how we were going to achieve these dreams and desires...these resolutions.
This is why so many of us fail in New Year's Resolutions. We list out the What, but not the How and Why. We simply state that we want to _______ this year, but we don't follow up with How we will get to that goal or Why that goal is so important to see thru to the end.
Another problem we encounter in setting goals or establishing new habits or rituals, is that we don't check our status or manage our progress. When NASA shoots a rocket to Mars, they don't just make all the calculations, set a course, launch and forget about it. Just like when driving in our car, we don't just have a destination in mind, start the car and close our eyes. We drive. We adjust our speed, we move from lane to lane to consider obstacles and hazards, we check our instruments and mirrors, we are constantly course correcting to arrive at our destination. We should treat our goals and resolutions the same way. Chances are, our success rate will increase, along with our outlook and experience.
So, embrace the New Year and the new beginning. Embrace resolutions. As you think about building a list of What, don't forget your How and Why. Once you set out on your destination, be sure to review your progress often, day to day even. If you find yourself off track, don't give up, simply course correct. Loosing a little time is redeemable, giving up completely isn't.
I set out to read X number of books this year, among other things. Will I meet ever goal I set? Nope. Did I meet my number of books? Nope, I missed it by one book. I could have thrown up my hands and quit mid-year when I noticed I was off course. Had I done that, I would have robbed myself of the experiences of reading the books I did read. Instead, I course corrected and got back to reading.
I'll do the same this year and set my reading goal higher.
Over the next few days, I will reflect over 2016, and chart and plan for 2017. Join me. This time next year, you'll look back over the dreams and desires that were realized.
If you need information on setting goals, etc. you can Google a ton of info. However, here are some solid tips: