The moment of truth has arrived. How far have you gotten with your New Year’s resolutions?
New Year’s Resolutions are great if they are implemented correctly. Their implementation and success start to be visible some months into the year, February and March. How does our life look like at this moment? Most people failed on their resolutions by March.
We need to answer this question with transparency and honesty, that is why it is called the “Moment of Truth”. Being too hard or too soft on ourselves will not help answer this question and adjust our new years goals. It can be helpful to bring a third party into this personal business. It has to be somebody who knows our daily habits pretty well. They will be able to soberly judge our every day live, our habits and our discipline. Nevertheless, I believe that it is not really necessary because we mostly know if we are giving it our best and are implementing the plan we had for the new year.
Failed resolutions
The probability that one of the readers of this blogpost has failed the New Year’s resolutions and goals he assigned on himself is very high. This is not something that should demotivate us. On the contrary, it should motivate us to become part of the small percentage of people who continue working on their plans for 2023. It is till the beginning of the year. Therefore, it is not too late to reevaluate the list of goals and habits we wrote down at the beginning of the year. Just like most things in life it is only a decision. The decision, though, can be difficult due to everyday-life stresses. That is why correct and thoughtful planning is essential.
thoughtful planning
As already mentioned, thoughtful planning is essential in creating a plan of goals for the future. This can be difficult, especially if we are occupied with a full time job or familial obligations. Creating a timetable or schedule that contains all obligatory occupations is necessary. The free hours can be filled with habits and activities that we want to pursue.
Sometimes Less is More
When we talk about new habits and activities, it is important to understand that too many of those can demotivate us. We will probably not consistently implement them into our everyday-life. Therefore, finding two or three new habits will create the best outcome. Thorough and honest reflection will be of high importance. What are the most important things we want to start pursuing in the future? Gym, writing a novel, build new and nourish old relationships, learn a martial art, create a business? What is lacking in our lives right now? What would we want to have less and what more of? Those are some important questions we need to answer in order to create a precise plan with creative habits.
Attempt and Adjust
The probability is high that we will not be entirely able to follow through with our plan. That should not be a reason to quit but a reason to adjust.
Therefore, it is important to not fear change. Even if we have to delete a new habit or activity from our schedule for some weeks. We need to give ourselves the necessary time to get used to the new schedule. It can be overwhelming at the beginning; for that reason adjustment is crucial. Two hours of working out can be too much for at first. Bringing it down to one hour or half an hour will probably help us keep the activity in our schedule until the end of the year.
Due to higher motivational levels at the beginning of a new year, we tend to overwhelm ourselves with a plan and habits that are untenable for the months to come. We need to understand that and not be too hard on ourselves if it does not fully work out as we imagined it. Visualization can be destructive when used unreasonably. Thoughtful planning and controlled visualization of our future self will increase the outlook of success.
conclusion
New Year’s resolutions, and new goals and habits in general, can be hard to implement. That is why so many people fail their resolutions. It is important to understand that it is a long term process. You will become the human being you want to be in a couple of years, not weeks or months. Consistency is key. It does not matter if we do not follow through with the whole plan and schedule at the beginning. To attempt and to adjust is a routine that will follow us until the end of our time here on earth. We should not be afraid or too proud to change our plans. Good luck!