Me, like a lot of people all over the world, take the New Year and use it as an opportunity to makes changes. My list of “resolutions” usually goes a little something like this:
- Lost weight and get healthier
- Be more financially responsible
- Have more patience
- Be kind
You’re list may look similar or maybe it’s totally different. My list is always the same and it made me realize this year that I might be doing this resolution thing wrong. Clearly I am not reaching these goals and so, therefore have not changed my list in years.
Honestly it’s pretty depressing to look at it and feel like I’ve somehow failed myself.
But here’s the thing, it’s not failure. It’s life. We’d all like to be in better shape, have more money and be a nice human. I think we try but life stuff get’s in the way. Stress, work issues, home life, and a myriad of other things can throw us off track so easily. So I think the problem might not be including the same list every year, but more likely it’s because once we “fail” we give up for the rest of the year. You screw up your diet, or you miss the gym for a few days. You lose it with your kids or your spouse, or maybe you act like a jerk while driving in traffic or pushing your way through the grocery store. So you say “oh well I’ll try again next year”.
That’s why I’m changing it up this New Year. Those things are going to stay on my list but I’m not going to look at them as successes or failures. Instead they are going to be monthly goals that I will continue to reach all of the time. I’m also going to look at my resolutions more as “examples” for Ella. She’s 8 now so she is mimicking what she sees. So no more resolutions that I either accomplish or fail, but a clean slate to keep trying every month to just be better. Not perfect, but just a little better with smaller monthly goals or examples for my daughter.
Today: drink more water. That sounds a lot easier to accomplish than a giant list of huge expections for myself that will set me up to fail.
