Lo and behold! It’s that time of the year when most of us grab that freshly minted planner of ours and rush to jolt down our new year’s resolutions. We seem to have an invisible sense of energy and motivation to start our life afresh – New year new beginning. Some wish to do more new things, some wish to avoid repeating their past mistakes while some like me, simply wish to exercise more.
Most of us consider a new year like a new beginning. Where we can do all the things that we couldn’t the previous year.
Just like how we all acknowledge the enthusiastic makings of new year resolutions the truth about how they soon fall apart should also be acknowledged. We make our resolutions with all our heart and might. Although, we are well aware that our plans may fall apart or we may not be able to hold out our end of the deal. Many of us succumb, for whatever reason, it might be. It is because of that why some stop making new year resolutions altogether.
My experiences-
I used to be one amongst the masses, wishing for a happier and a better new year than the previous one. For many years I would make a long list of ‘my new year’s resolutions’. I would tell myself that no matter what may happen I will stick to my resolutions and will complete it till the end. No surprise there, you must have guessed what happened next. I used to follow my resolutions diligently for the first couple of days. After that, the planner and the plans are nowhere to be seen.
What followed was my guilt trips and bouts of self-doubting. This is the same tale that many of us over the globe experience. I started wondering what could I do to change my outcome.
I came to realize that by making plans and resolutions for a whole year and expecting to strictly abide by it is a lot to ask of oneself. Especially when I didn’t have a habit of doing so. It would be like expecting a gift to be delivered by Santa Claus on Christmas eve. Not exactly realistic is it?
What I mean is that when we know that our present self is not equipped to handle all the “load of resolutions “at once, then why are we setting up unrealistic goals for ourselves. It would be like making plans when we know that they might not be met.
What I learnt –
So I thought that instead of making “NEW YEAR” resolution why not make “NEW DAY” resolutions. Goals and plans of a whole year broken down into tiny chunks. It would be like savouring that cup of hot chocolate sip by sip as opposed to just gulping it down. Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? The best part is we could apply the same principle to our new year’s resolutions too.
Instead of just treating January first as a new beginning, why not treat every day as a new beginning.
I stand by these –
- Set resolutions for every day and try your best to achieve it. If you make mistakes learn from it.
- If you are unable to complete it don’t feel guilty. Give a pat on your shoulder anyway and be proud of yourself. You might not have completed the task but you came farther than you were yesterday.
- Treat every day as a new beginning. Before you know, you will find yourself closer to your goals and resolutions. Imagine what a wonderful feeling would that be?
It worked wonders on me although I confess I still have my off days but it worked better than my previous plans.
Waiting to hear if it works for you as well.:)
