How to Finally Start Fulfilling Your New Year’s Resolutions (Part 1)
You welcome the New Year with hope, expectation, and fireworks. Your life has turned a new leaf and you tell yourself that things are going to get better. You’re going to be braver, more disciplined, more compassionate, more generous, more everything—at least on paper, on that New Year’s Resolution sheet you have taped over your desk that eventually gets covered up with post-its as the days progress.
You re-launch yourself into the world, and yet most find themselves living their lives the same way, with the same routines. People hold on to the hope that everything they wrote down will suddenly come hit them out of nowhere—but these never happens in real life. Fast forward to the company Christmas party and you’re still in the same job, complaining about the same boss, barely living on the minimum, and with two additional pounds to show for how good this year has been compared to the last. And as you dive into that humungous bowl of chicken rice in your Santa suit, you think to yourself, “It’s almost New Year. Things are definitely going to be different then.”
Luck ends where there is no plan
For a lot of people, it’s the same story every year—or worse. Whatever highlights there may be are but mere chance encounters with luck. But a lot of times, you run out of luck more than you run into it. Luck really isn’t part of growth the same way that wishing isn’t. You can’t just wish for a better life, write it down and call it a resolution, then wait for the world to hand it to you on a silver platter. It doesn’t work that way. No success story, the real and lasting kind, was ever started or sustained with luck or a wish. All of them started with a plan.
It’s not a wish list but a map for success
I painted a relatable picture of how a lot of people treat New Year’s Resolutions, an otherwise powerful goal-setting tool that could help in systematically planning your roadmap to success for the next 365 days. Now, I know that January is about to end but it isn’t too late to charter this year’s course toward greatness. Whatever it is you’re hoping for can be possible as soon as you stop waiting for success come find you and actually put your back into making it happen for yourself. Take a clean sheet of paper and follow after me.
Stop focusing on the WHAT but on the WHEN and HOW
If you made a list of resolutions at the start of the year and any list from the previous years, now is a good time to take them out. It is essentially important to first assess the progress—or lack thereof—of the resolutions you already made. Have you resolved to achieve the same the same thing for a number or years now but it never really got to the drawing board? This is primarily where resolutions fail. People focus so much on the WHAT that they completely forget to factor in the HOW and WHEN—the more important pieces of the puzzle.
Ask the most important question: WHY?
Now, it’s also important to note the WHY. This will serve as the fuel that will power the engines of success. “Why am I doing this? Why do I want this? If I really need or want it, why have I never done anything to make it happen?” Understanding the why in what you’re hoping for is necessary to achieve every goal. The why must be such a strong and passionate force that could motivate you to wake up every morning and commit to changing your life. Why? “Because I owe it to myself to stop acting like a loser and start living like a winner.”
It all starts from self-awareness
After getting all your whys lined up, you are now more self-aware. You start being conscious of yourself, your drives and your motivations. You’re beginning to see you as you. It may not be a pretty sight for now. Acknowledging your wounds or your scars is never easy. The process could even be a bit traumatic for those who are able to point out past disappointments as the ultimate reason for any lack of initiative or commitment.
Self-awareness is a very necessary element in achieving your goals. You can’t go anywhere without first knowing the condition of the car you are driving.Some parts might need repairs, you might need to change the oil, or filling the gas tank up. It’s the same with goal-setting. You first need to know what you have and what you don’t and work your way from there.
Painting a picture of the future
Many a reason why resolutions aren’t achieved is because people don’t really know what they entail or are ignorant to how to use them the right and effective way. Resolution-making is more than a common, overused practice that people get into as part of tradition or culture. It’s more than the ineffective habit that people welcome the year with that eventually becomes a shopping list of failure when assessed the year after. It’s supposed to help and guide you in becoming the person you want to be.
Listing your resolutions serves as a guide. But it’s not the list that’s going to change you. It’s simply a tool that you use in order to see the reflection of who you want to be. A reflection that’s meant to give you a detailed visualization of a person living in the future. As it is a painting of inspiration so is it a game plan, a map, a strategy that is meant to help you create and re-create a better and best you.
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