Every year I, like many others, make up my own New Year’s resolution. Most resolutions are things like giving up smoking or losing weight, things that we know we should do but that we never really want to do. I honestly don’t take my resolutions seriously. I know others who don’t either. We set ourselves up for failure. We make ourselves believe that the goals we set are hard and therefore not worth achieving. Maybe it’s not us but the goals themselves that are the problem.
The beginning of the year seems like a fresh new start to the world, so it’s logical to have plans to change your life to better yourself. However, a New Year’s resolution probably isn’t the answer. According to some surveys, less than ten percent of resolutions are kept. I can understand why. They are poorly thought out, usually a spur of the moment idea, there is no plan or set timeline in which to achieve the goals and they are really vague or too broad at times.
Setting a goal requires thought and planning. There’s no real thought put to what those resolutions should be. So of course there is no real plan about how to keep the resolution. Usually the resolutions are made with no deadline in mind. If you’re going to quit smoking, think as to how you are going to quit. If you’re going to lose weight, think how much weight you want to lose and by when you want to have shed the weight.
If you really want to make a New Year’s resolution, don’t make it complicated. The ideal resolution would be a goal that would have been achieved eventually but now is being pushed forward. Things like getting a new job or doing some work on your house are simple things that you probably meant to do but just never got around to doing. Otherwise, there is a great chance that your resolution will continue to go unresolved by the end of the year.