New years resolutions - failed again

As 2007 is nearly up, it is nearly that time again when all of us hopefuls get our note pads out and start jotting down our new year resolutions for the upcoming year. High expectations are set, as if we never learn. Year after year we set these unrealistic resolutions that never seem to be attained. Failure to lose those ten kilograms or achieve one hundred percent in our university exams end up in feelings of failure. In order to turn failed resolutions into achieved ones, it is imperative to have a closer analysis of this concept of ‘resolutions’.

The term ‘resolutions’ encompasses the term ‘solution’ – to‘re-solve’. Should we then rephrase the term as ‘New year resolving’? What are we resolving then? Our present problems or future ones? If we are to find solutions to our present problems, then why do we continue to make new expectations that will cause us to have future problems? How can one build a foundation on a rocky platform? It is like a flower trying to grow on dry soil – impossible!

Contrary to what most people say, we need to stop focusing on the future, and deal with the past. We can not strive for the accomplishment of achieved resolutions if the basic foundation of each resolution is not resolved.

My previous resolution from last year involved loosing ten kilograms. I only managed to loose three kilograms throughout the entire year. Regarding this resolution for 2007 what was I trying to resolve? Obviously my weight problem. It is now December and I am about to write my new years resolutions for 2008. One of my new resolutions is to lose 14 kilograms. But how is this at all possible if I failed to loose the previous ten kilograms of 2007? The answer is this - It is not possible.

The ‘solution’ to New Year’s resolutions is to stop writing them in the first place. Don’t pick up that note pad, don’t write your hopes, don’t set your expectations which are doomed to fail and lastly don’t set yourself up for disappointment. The trick, in a sense, is to back track. Work on and resolve previous year’s resolutions. In fact, write a heading on your notepad stating: “My ten year resolutions”. By doing this, you will be able to set yourself goals that are achievable in a larger time frame. I am not implying that one should set goals in a time frame of 30 years. This gives one no motivation.

Yes, it is a new year. The future is unforeseeable. It is bright. It is hopeful. But by looking at the future from a different angle or perspective, you will see that it is another year, another opportunity to set yourself right and to figure out your worries and your woes. It is another year to achieve your goal weight, another year to become a top manager in your business and another year to become a better you. Do not go overboard in dabbling in your problems or past, but use your past to constructively enter into your future.