New Year's Resolutions
Why They're Doomed to Fail
Can you believe the year is almost over? Not that I'm that broken up about seeing it go. It's been the oddest, most surprising year I've ever experienced, bar none.
Things have happened this year that I would have never believed were possible.
The world was forced to slow down and rethink how things operate. We've all had to make adjustments to our goals and plans, and life looks a lot different than it did a year ago.
So as we rapidly approach a new year, I always like to reflect on the past year and see how I've grown, what I've accomplished, and where I fell short.
I don't like New Year's Resolutions because they're so cliché.
Everyone seems to make them, and everyone seems to break them.
Instead, I like to set goals. Yea, I know. It's seems like the same thing, but it's really not. Resolutions are big and difficult to achieve. Goals, when done right, are bite-sized and doable.
Goals are something you set all the time. Even if you don't realize it, you're mentally setting goals every day.
If you've ever planned a vacation, you've set a goal. If you've ever planned to cook a meal, you've set a goal. If you've ever planned to get out of bed in the morning, you've set a goal!
I'll bet if you look back over your goal to success ratio, you've been pretty successful.
Sure some of the major ones may have fell through, but that just means you set them too big and lacked supporting goals to get you there.
Goals should be small, achievable, and numerous. The bigger the goal, the more steps or smaller goals you should set to get you there.
It's like driving across the country. You wouldn't start in North Carolina and just expect to be in California without passing through many other states first.
And you wouldn't cross the border into to Tennessee and say, "I've failed, I'll never make it to California!" and just stop, would you?
Each state is like a mini goal - a marker of your progress toward the bigger goal.
Most of the time, you'll have to revise your steps many times on your way to your biggest goals. So expect to improvise and you'll be more prepared when the time comes.
When I'm setting a goal to create a painting, I have an idea of how I want the finished piece to look. That's the big goal.
Then I break down the steps into the sky, the clouds, the background, the foreground, the highlights, and the details.
Without completing each step along the way, my painting wouldn't work. Or not like I wanted anyway.
And it helps to stay flexible and learn to readjust your course along the way. Sometimes, I accidentally paint a really great cloud where I had planned to put a tree.
So I just paint the tree somewhere else. The overall goal didn't change, but the path took a slightly different route than originally expected.
And that's ok!
When you stay fluid about the details while maintaining focus on the endgame, the journey is so much smoother.
And you achieve your goals with much more consistency and with much less frustration.
So this year, take those big resolutions and turn them into a roadmap of small, achievable goals.
Ideally, journal about it, and check back in on your progress once a week, once a month, and mid-year.
It will keep you motivated when you see how far you've come and will also tip you off as to when you need to make adjustments.
You can make this year the best one ever with this plan. It's your life to live, so create it and live it!
Happy New Year!!!
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