So, it’s been about a week since the beginning of 2017. I’m betting you spent time leading up to January 1 coming up with some incredible resolutions for 2017 – resolutions that you most likely have already failed at. It happened to me every year I made resolutions. It’s something about the excitement of the new year that makes us excited to start fresh, and yet only days later we are discourage and give up. Here are three things I’ve learned to do when I “fail” at my resolutions.
- Make them into long term goals – I’ve found that goal setting is much more effective for me than resolutions. If I set a long term goal, I can plan the steps I need to take to get there. So, if you resolution was to “go to the gym four times a week” maybe you set that as your long term goal, and start with only going regularly once a week. Then you can build up from there.
- Generalize them all into a “focus” – If you have a few resolutions about one topic, it may be easier to pull the focus away from the resolution and more on the general theme of the resolutions. So maybe instead of focusing on “creating 75 layouts” and “writing two pages a day” you shift your focus to “infusing creativity into your life.”
- Keep going – We are so conditioned that once we “fail” at something, we give up. Dieting? The minute you eat that cookie it clearly means to eat the whole bag, because you know, you fell off the wagon. Adjusting this mindset can help you achieve your resolutions in a more realistic manner. A few weeks ago I had this grand idea that I was going to go a whole day without complaining. So, the day I was going to start, I complained in my head about something before I was even out of bed. Instead of saying “well there goes that, guess I just can’t do that” I need to think “well that wasn’t great, but I can keep trying and maybe the rest of the day will be better.”
The bigger theme here is that it’s important to not give up, and that’s hard to do. I often have to remind myself that the end goal is worth it, and I’ve got to keep going. To help you stay motivated, here’s a fun song from the Trolls movie sung by Anna Kendrick. I’ve added this to my “New Year, New You” playlist!
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