I’ve heard many jaded comments about New Year’s resolutions. Things like: “I never bother with those”, “They’re just a waste of time”, or “I don’t think they mean anything.”
I see their point.
The word ‘resolution’ does sound very official. Maybe too official. I think in our early years (somewhere deep in our subconscious) we expected our New Year’s resolutions to be a magic wand. That just by saying them, they would just happen. After years of disappointment, we stop believing in them, like we stopped believing in the tooth fairy.
It’s not the tooth fairy.
We’re looking at it all wrong. New Year’s resolutions are simply an opportunity to improve ourselves. Because every day that we do something good intentionally, drop the junk, quench the drama, cut out distractions – that is a day that we become more ourselves.
Be SMART
Many well-run organizations provide a periodic opportunity for each individual to create SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based) goals. And good managers reward their employees for achieving or exceeding their goals.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to be a better manager of me.
The new year can be a reminder to look back on our lives, evaluate and make some smart goals: What can we do better? What should we stop doing? What have we done well? How can we move forward?
Having a vision and a focused strategy is what makes successful people successful.
Give yourself some grace
We won’t always get things just right, but the point is to keep growing, and try to become a little better than we were last year.
Shoot for the stars
If you shoot for the stars (within reason), and you miss them, hey, at least you’ll be higher than you were before. If you don’t shoot for anything, you’ll never even get off the ground.
P.S.- If one of your goals is to spend more quality time with family, then making a pie or craft together might be a great way to make some new memories!