At the start of each new year, it becomes a time for change.
Each year, most of us join the throngs of others who make "New Years' Resolutions." For good or for ill, we make those resolutions, vowing to make the next year better, and some of us actually keep the darn things.
Why is it that we don't consistently keep our New Years' Resolutions? Can it be that we aren't dedicated to them?
Face it. Most of us make resolutions just so we can make them. They give us something to give up, some semblance of belief that we are making a change in our lives. We usually choose something that we aren't really committed to, so we tend to fail in our resolutions.
Rather than making resolutions, this year, let's make New Year's Commitments. A commitment is different than a resolution. It's a contract with ourselves to make a change. It's a "burn all the bridges" decision to not turn back, to make a change, to make a difference. It's an opportunity to grow, and to persevere.
A resolution, when defined as such, boils down to the lack of a commitment. It is a half-baked, half-hearted wish, much as the wish you might make on a shooting star. It's what the all-knowing nanny Mary Poppins (I can't believe I'm quoting Mary Poppins) called a "Pie crust promise, easily made, easily broken."
Despite the fact that I can't make a pie crust, I'm going to side with Poppins. We need to make concrete, definite, unbreakable commitments to ourselves. We need to make goals that are attainable, and then do our darnedest to attain them.
Making New Years' Resolutions, just the way we always have done, is actually a negative thing. When we make a goal, and then don't work to attain that goal, we actually tell our brain that we aren't serious about what we want. Is there any surprise that we don’t keep our other goals, as well?
Start the year out right. Make a commitment, not a resolution.
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