Why New Year's Resolutions Are Important
It's that time of the year again when we all tend to take stock as we anticipate a new start. Every New Year's day I do my ritual of looking back at the past year to see how many of my resolutions I achieved. This year I counted 9 out of 12, over 75%. Some were not really applicable any more, so my success rate could be interpreted as even better than that. I felt very pleased with myself and have promptly made new resolutions for 2018.
This time of year is rife with personal promises which reflect past disappointments, frustrated dreams, lost ideals, individual yearnings, and cherished aspirations. If you are making new resolutions as well, two weeks into the new year, you are likely to be struggling with them. Many people might get despondent at not sticking to them for a long time, and they will probably wonder why they bothered, when it seems so difficult to achieve them. But hang in there, any effort is better than nothing! Persistence usually pays off.
On the other hand, some people are inclined to ridicule the idea of making resolutions and trying to stick with them. But making these objectives at the start of each year is as crucial to feelings of worth and progress as actually achieving them. By focusing on something you desire, you are likely to have it, because you are more likely to work harder for it.
Resolutions are not just whims or idle promises. They emphasise past progress, and rekindle new hopes, while acknowledging effort, as well as obstacles. They are likely to relate to losing weight, getting a new job, meeting a new soulmate, getting promotion, starting a new course, travelling, giving up smoking, reducing excesses in our lives, and developing a new attitude to life, among many others. We often get strung up on not achieving all, or most, of those resolutions, so we become demoralised by our perceived failures in our search for perfection, and then cease to bother. However, achieving all the stated resolutions is not the point. What resolutions do, in fact, is help us to acknowledge the weaknesses and gaps in our lives, and then make a commitment to improve them over the next year... a time period which can be easily monitored. They also give us something to look forward to, as we will make a greater effort to achieve them.
In effect, you actually achieved more than you thought. It's a fixation with achieving perfection which makes us blind to other unexpected blessings.
Changing Priorities
Thus, achieving 100% of all our resolutions is unrealistic and a fallacy. Mainly because, by the time we reach the middle of the year, our priorities would probably have changed anyway, and what we started with as a special goal would not be so important anymore. If we achieve just 20% of our goals they will have an effect on us that was not foreseen, and will actually push us along, gradually, towards the person we aspire to be, or the destination we have in mind. It is when we don't even try at all that our lives take a knocking and we stay in the same rut constantly. The need to make resolutions means that something is missing from our life which would improve its quality. We cannot ignore that.
For example, if you made three goals (to find a partner, to see some of the world, and to stop smoking), this is what is likely to happen. You may find the partner first, but s/he smokes too. Suddenly, the need to stop smoking might not be so important anymore, because you have a kindred spirit to share it with. Or you might decide you don't want to travel after all because, having fallen in love, you will both be busy planning for life together and need the travel money. So, though on the face of it, you achieved only ONE of your goals, it triggered other desires which then assumed greater priority. In effect, you actually achieved more than you thought. It's a fixation with achieving perfection which makes us blind to other unexpected blessings.
Making personal or career resolutions are thus very important. They provide the opportunity to review your life in the past year, review where you are going, review what you are lacking, and put simple steps into place, for change and fulfilment within a given time frame. And that is no bad thing. Self-knowledge is the greatest route to power and self-confidence. It is all about personal development and purpose in your life. Nothing helps that process more than simple resolutions at crucial points on your journey.
Wishing You a very Prosperous and Successful New Year! Best wishes for the fulfilment of your dreams in the coming year! :o)
Author: The Essential Guide to Confidence (ebook and print)
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