New Year resolutions

The advent of a New Year, new promises, new adventures, opportunities, challenges, and of course a whole new list of New Year resolutions. Yet another chance at achieving the heavy-duty goals that we put so much thought into making. Little do we think as to where they are called so? Because they become insignificant past the New Year’s week. After the long list of wishes that Santa didn’t fulfill, those are the ones starring in our new year’s resolutions list. How courageous of us as we gallantly enter into the New Year, ready more than ever to fight our inhibitions and take charge of our life.

Source: Picture by Wokandapix

Dramatic changes

To make sure we work so hard and do something so good that we dramatically flip our world and get all that we ever wished for. So you read a few self-help books, watched a lot of inspiring youtube videos like “10 things to do to achieve your New Year goals”, even heard hour-long Ted Talks. Thoroughly inspired and driven, saying your goal out loud “let’s do this “and prepped your vision board.

Thrilled to see life with a new perspective and spent one entire day categorizing your long-term goals and enlisting the procedure you are going to follow daily. It is exciting in a way. Full points for efforts but do we really have the resilience it takes to stick to the promises we make to ourselves? More of a frivolously contrived way to fool ourselves into believing that we will achieve the things we want. Hopes and dreams are written out on a piece of paper in bullet points. Subconsciously aware that the things on the list, are not going to make it past a point. Let’s be realistic those promises probably don’t even make it past January for most people, yet we do it every year without fail.

Why take resolutions

Because they help us be on track and get a grip of what we are doing and what is important. Of the things we need to change and the things, we need to include to make our lives better. To improve our overall selves. These are tools to help us build ourselves, they are not supposed to be another thing that drives us down from our main motive. You don’t have to necessarily have huge life-changing resolutions that you know are not possible to happen that quickly.

Prioritize the “needs” and the “wants”. Things that are absolutely imperative, the things that need immediate attention and modification. Maybe in your lifestyle or with your work, whatever is sabotaging your career or your health and needs to be cut and thrown away, those are the things that cannot wait. Put a deadline on it, treat those like a task and might adversely affect you.

Challenges for yourself

Say for example at the gym, you know you had a back injury last year and if you do not do the specific exercises the condition is going to worsen. Put up little challenges for yourself. If you don’t continue to do this, this is something that you will lose, or this is something you want and others are the things that aren’t absolutely necessary but is more like an addition, and embellishment to your personality. For those, you need to build interest. Try a lot of new things, a new language or guitar lessons or any other unique instrument.

You know what kind of a person you are, pick up a weekend and so something completely opposite, go horse riding who knows, might become an equestrian by the end of the year. Have a resolution partner, someone who shares your goal. So even if you don’t feel that willing one of the days, your partner is going to be there to push you into continuing it.

Instead of making a list of things that will happen when you achieve your annual goal, make a list of the things that would go wrong if you didn’t. How would you feel if I say, by the end of the year you will be 15lbs heavier than what you currently are? I am pretty sure half of the ladies already have a heart attack.

Remembering the old resolutions

There is no point in carrying forward baggage of the previous year. It is better to analyze where you reached and how many of the resolutions you have achieved that you made last year. Then work accordingly to make sure that you are able to finish the previous promises you made to yourself as well as work arduously with more determination on the new ones. Sit back and introspect on the ways that you previously used and plan out what you want to do further. Celebrate your achievements be it big or small. They are a result of your hard work and dedication and you deserve the applause.

Carry forward the Add on

You need to have a welcoming attitude towards things. That is important unless you believe in the change you want to see in yourself. Believe in the little efforts and be patient for only persistence will get you to the end of the journey that you have promised to embark upon. If you start going off track, it is just you who will be affected, and not in a good way. Don’t just make promises that hold true only till they are new, take small steps to change or develop a habit that’s going to stick all year long. With the responsibility of finishing the previous ones, it is also important to keep adding new ones to the list.

 Determined to achieve more

Follow your heart and do things according to the plan. Resilience and determination are key and you cannot lose heart over trivial things. Make sure you have your goal in mind and work towards achieving that. Because no one else is going to do that for you. Do not let yourself be sidetracked by any distractions

As long as you keep your head straight and keep doing the things that need to be done the results will follow. You are doing these things for your own benefit and no one else can do it for you or do it better than you. Perseverance is the key, these are not things that will happen overnight and you need to keep that in mind so that the next time the thought of dropping off one of your promises pops up, you fight the urge to give up and continue working towards your goal.

Also read: Magazine for January 2019