I honestly have been avoiding the “New Year” topic for several weeks to give you an opportunity to recover from the barrage of “New Year New You” e-mails and product endorsements. I find it very tiresome. It is the same story each year. What will I do differently this year? What improvements will I make? And more importantly, though cynically, how long can I keep these promises before abandoning them altogether? We have the best of intentions.
I do not make New Year’s resolutions. Rather, I like to take a personal inventory. I like to look at how I improved (or did not improve) over the past year. And then I like to look forward, both personally and professionally. What are some things I would like to learn this year and what are the steps I can take to do that? How can I positively impact the lives of others? What do I love to do and how can I make time for those things?
Rather than making resolutions, just take a little time to plan for good things for yourself in the New Year. What did you find yourself missing last year? Maybe you wished for more time to yourself. If so, sit down and plan a few outings for yourself or for yourself and a few friends. If you do not plan it, it will not happen. Maybe you would like to feel better. If so, visit your doctor, a dietitian and a personal trainer who can give you a plan of action. You get the idea. Planning is the key. With no plan, there is no change.
Do not sit there and wait for whatever life will throw at you. And believe me, it will. Make a few plans and steer the ship for yourself. Of course your plans may sometimes be thwarted. That’s life. But if you do not have a plan to thwart, isn’t that worse?
Make a few new things happen this year. Happy 2016, everyone!
I agree I think it is easier to start the ‘new year new me’ thing on February 1st. That being said I won’t be! I believe in making goals to improve ourselves but we have to be kind and make simple changes everyday or every few weeks rather than a big over haul on January the first!