I have always been fascinated by the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions. It is a great way to set yourself up for failure. Also, I think everyone knows what they want to achieve in life and the areas needing improvement, so making a bold statement about how it will all come to fruition in the next year seems unnecessary. On the other hand, writing down goals supposedly leads to greater success, so maybe it is an intelligent approach to make resolutions since they are goals. However, making goals around a lot of hype and publicly announcing them makes people feel bad about themselves if they do not accomplish their goals as they had hoped. It is a fine line between sharing your goals so others can hold you accountable for them and falling on your face in front of everyone, making you reluctant to set goals for yourself in the future. Just because something is typical for society does not mean it has to be typical for you.
Once, I heard a woman on the radio say she chose a word for her resolution. For example, instead of making specific resolutions about her health, she would use “health” as a focus for the year. I thought that was probably a better approach, leading to more success.
Recently, I read an email that suggested I focus on how I want to feel this upcoming year. The sender explained that perhaps there was a different energy that I wanted to build in myself in the upcoming year.
This gave me the idea that some might want to combine these ideas for their New Year’s resolutions equation: a focus word + a feeling = goal success. For example, instead of listing separate resolutions, such as losing 20 pounds and going to the gym weekly, one could say they want to focus on their health and feel more confident. Then, throughout the year, their choices would result from wanting to make better food choices, helping their doctor reduce the number of medications they take, or improving their endurance. They would attempt to go to the gym more, or they would keep an eye on their blood pressure. Better habits would then be generalized across their lifestyle, making them more confident.
You may want a general concept to guide you. You can choose to purposely think about letting the little things go without allowing them to anger you, to display more patience, or to show others that you love them through your words and actions.
Whatever method you choose to tackle the upcoming year is a personal choice. Maybe you are the traditional New Year’s resolutions type. Perhaps you want to try a focus word or a feeling word. Maybe you want to combine a focus word with a feeling word. Perhaps you are tired; life is too complicated right now, and adding resolutions is not an option. It might be that this typical tradition for society is not your typical thing. Wherever you find yourself in the resolution-making process, it is acceptable. You can always set goals later this year if the timing now is incorrect. There is so much commotion about resolutions, but the ironic thing is that resolutions are such a mundane concept. Resolutions are about getting out of bed and doing your best each day. It is about how you keep on keeping on. Do not let the hype of resolutions overwhelm you or make you feel bad. Just keep on keeping on, especially if you are in a difficult season.
This year will be like many other years. There will be ups and downs. Take time to celebrate the ups and be good to yourself (and others) during the downs. I hope you have success toward whatever goals you set. The woman who recommended focusing on a feeling said this upcoming year does not have to be the most incredible year ever that you totally get right. Before the new year begins, release yourself from having to have the perfect year. It would be best if you tried your best and worked on learning, growing, and achieving in whatever way is best for you. That is how you have success without failing on your resolutions. Keep doing what you are doing and continue to improve. Resolutions are just the boring life stuff we do all the time, dressed up a little nicer than usual. Just keep on keeping on like you have been doing. I do not know what this upcoming year will bring; I bet there will be some great moments, but that is just my view.
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