Resolutions

We’re coming up on the New Year fast and furious right about now. This is a time people project their thoughts and aspirations into the coming year. New Years resolutions have been a fad for so long they are now a tradition. Sadly, failed New Years resolutions are epidemic, to the point of being a cliché.

People promise themselves that they will quit smoking, or lose weight, or read through the Bible, or keep their checkbook balanced, or learn to tap dance. By January 3rd we are still feverishly perusing our resolution. By the second week of January we have been making excuses not to be so diligent for several days. By the first week of February, the resolution is usually forgotten till the end of December, when the resolution is reaffirmed.

Why? Mind you, I am not pointing fingers; I am as guilty of dropping resolutions as anyone else … which makes me doubly guilty because I have an understanding of the dynamics of thought and action underlying the process of personal change. Why do people make New Years resolutions, then frustraitedly find themselves making the same resolution at the end of the next year as well?

The first thing we have to understand is that we didn’t just fall off the turnip truck fully the person we now are. During you age you have spent each and every one of your moments sculpting yourself. However old you are is how many years you’ve spent developing yourself, your psyche, your habits, your physique, your relationships. Under these conditions, change takes more than wishful thinking.

Jeff Olson tells us that little things, done consistently over time, lead us to our failures as well as our successes. Furthermore, seed a thought, grow an action, reap a habit; seed an action, grow a habit, reap a lifestyle; seed a habit, grow a lifestyle, reap a legacy.

Get a piece of paper and write five paragraphs. In the first paragraph, write what it is you want to do, and why. Be brief, you’re going to carry this piece of paper around with you. In the second paragraph, describe the end result you want to bring about … this is the pie in the sky paragraph. In the third paragraph, write what obstacles you may encounter, and possible ways to work around them. In the fourth paragraph, describe the actions you intend to take in order to bring about the end result you desire. In the fifth paragraph, outline who is responsible for what, when, where, why, and how.

Fold this piece of paper neatly, and put it in your pocket. Take it out of your pocket and read it at least once a day, preferably more. Then, rethink, revise, and rewrite.

Till next time, remember, you can do anything you want to do. However, it helps a lot if you have a plan. It helps even more if you have that plan written, and referred to often.

Thank you for reading. You’re spectacular.