Another year is coming to an end, and with it naturally comes the start of a brand new one. In less than 12 hours, we'll be starting new diaries, hanging up a brand new calendar, and planning out the year ahead. One thing that's pretty synonymous with the beginning of a fresh year is the idea of making New Year's resolutions. I'm sure most of you have thought of a couple for 2021 already. Maybe it's to start going to the gym, or to quit smoking, or to not leave your studying until the very last minute.
Well, I'm here to tell you that whatever resolution you've decided to grasp onto this year in order to thrive and live the life you've always imagined... It's probably not going to work out.
Think about it. How many of us have fallen into a cycle of recycling our resolutions every January, simply because we had started out strong the previous year, only to fall off the wagon a few months (or weeks, or days) into the new year.
No, it wasn't. This year won't be any different.
Here's the thing about New Year's resolutions: they're predetermined to fail. It's almost one of their characteristics. Even as you announce your resolution to all your family and friends, something inside of you knows that you'll just be repeating the same cycle, and yet you try anyway because you feel like you have to.
This is where I'd like to propose the idea of goal setting. And yes, in essence, they're pretty much the same thing - I literally just substituted the word 'resolution' for 'goal'. But your brain's reactions to the two words are probably quite different. 'Resolutions' has almost become too mainstream; it's not just you that unknowingly expects it to fail, it's our culture as a whole. Society has reduced its true meaning to a yearly frivolous attempt at changing your life. When you hear the word 'goal', on the other hand, your mind might automatically start thinking of possibly the one thing that truly gets in the way of you conquering your resolutions: planning.
Yes, another pivotal reason why you tend to fail at trying to keep your resolutions up is that you don't go into it with a specific plan. Creating a path for yourself in order to achieve success is so important. If you really want to accomplish something, winging it doesn't always cut it. The key is to set SMART goals. And if you've never heard of that acronym, let me quickly break it down for you:
S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Attainable
R - Realistic
T - Timely
Now, I'm going to use one of the most popular resolutions as an example. Setting a New Year's resolution that goes something like 'I want to look fit' is very vague, and therefore it's not really measurable. Make it specific by making it your goal to see your abs by the end of the year, for example. That's much more specific, and thus it's also quite measurable, as you'll probably be able to tell when you've reached your goal, as well as how you're doing along the way. If you're already quite a healthy person, that goal is then quite attainable and realistic. Lastly, to make it timely, give yourself a deadline - but remember, keep it realistic!
Above all, the last thing I want to mention in this our last blog post of the year, is to think about your goals well. Make sure you're doing it for the right reasons, and not just because you want to be like everyone else or make someone else jealous. Set your goals for you, and keep the reasoning behind them in your head - or write it down - because that will be your motivation when things get hard.
With that being said, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year from both of us here at Writings on the Wall, and may you be showered with health, love, and happiness come January 1st.
Comentarios