We all say it. "Next year, I want to be more organised." "Next year I want to loose 5kgs." "Next year is going to be the year I get a new job." "Next year, I have to use 10balls of yarn before I can purchase any more." "Next Year....." The list is endless and varies from person to person. But there are two things all New Years resolutions seem to have in common.
Firstly, New Years Resolutions are about bettering yourself. No one ever says "Next Year, I am going to be lazier." Or "Next year I want to earn less money." They are about something you want or need to do, in order to feel better about yourself and your situation. It can be a physical thing, like loosing weight or learning to Ski. Or it can be a mental thing, like enrolling in that course you always wanted to do, or challenging yourself to read a book a week. Or it could be an emotional thing, becoming closer with your family or getting yourself a promotion for a greater sense of worth. Whatever it is it is about making you feel better about YOU.
The second thing all New Years Resolutions have in common is probably the hardest thing of all resolutions to do. Whatever your Resolution, YOU are resolving to CHANGE. Ever noticed how easy it is to stick to the diet you Resolved to go on for the first few weeks of the year? But what happens after those first few weeks? And it is certainly easier to spend more time with the kids while you are all on holiday, but what happens during that first week back at work? How easy is it to slip back into the comfort zone of doing it the way it has always been done? And why is it that we slip back into our old routines? Is it because the goals we set ourselves in our New Years Resolution where to hard to achieve? Maybe. But more often than not our failure to achieve is not because we couldn't do it. It is because we failed to change the way we were doing it.
I myself have made more New Years Resolutions than I care to count. Some I have achieved, but to be honest, most I have not. I have failed to change. I know that change is one of the hardest things to do, but I also know that I need to do it. I will not change the world. Nor should I even attempt it. But perhaps I can change a few little things about me, that might have an effect on someone else. And that person may just have an effect on someone else.
I know, I know. We haven't even gotten to Christmas yet and I am talking about New Years. And I sound like one of those self help preachy types who has all the answers, and will sell 'em to you on CD for 3 easy payments of $49.95 (plus shipping and handling). But I am not. I am just talking myself into working out what little things about myself I can change next year. I am thinking I need to start small. Do I need to work out what my long term goals are? Yes, I do. But I need to take things one step at a time. In the past I have been so resistant to change, but I think it is time I changed that.
What small thing are you going to change?
