New Year’s Resolutions & Why They’re Still Worth Making
By: C. A. Touré
Tags: New Year, Motivation, Success, New Years Resolutions, Goals

The other day a guy was telling me that he felt New Year’s resolutions were silly. That if a person hadn’t changed up to that point, why would they all of a sudden do so? In a way, that made sense and has all the trappings of truth. In reality, when you decide to change, doesn’t matter as much as having the genuine desire to do so. Whether that happens on the 1st of August or the 1st of January. But there are still some reasons why deciding to change or improve one’s life at the beginning of a year might still be worth a try. And here they are:

1. You Can’t Change Without Having the Intention To

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It is crucial that you understand that all the benefits that come with it, mean nothing if you don’t have the intention to change and improve your life. That applies to any month of the year. Until you have that intention and it’s strong enough to lead to action, nothing will happen. This is the main ingredient to a successful resolution, and I think pretty much everyone setting a New Year’s Resolution already has the intention to change.

If you sense that you might not be too intent on changing, I suggest you get this right before you proceed to set up a goal for next year. When you’ve gone through the reasons why it is still a good idea to kick off a new year with a resolve to achieve certain goals, there’s another post that I’ve linked to that will help you plan your goals in the most efficient manner, and keep you active and motivated throughout the year.

2. The Current Year Might Almost be Over With Subpar Results

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So this year might not have been all that you hoped it would be. That happens. So looking forward to a change in the next twelve months isn’t foolish. Staying motivated by whatever means you can find is actually quite the opposite. Among all the reasons, this one is pretty much one of the main reason why people set New Year’s resolutions. To those who’ve failed to achieve what they wanted this year, I congratulate you sincerely. It takes a rare breed to get back up after having 12 months end without having achieved what they hoped. You have a strength that very few people possess.

Looking forward to making the next twelve months more productive and successful is nothing to sneeze at. Give your goals another year if they are still worth that much to you. Refine last year’s plan if there was one and get back out there.

3. A New Year literally feels like a fresh start

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Well, this hardly needs a deep explanation. It’s a built-in fresh start, for some reason we associate a new year with a new beginning. Psychologically that can do wonders when you feel you’ve been stuck in a rut. It’s a short window about 2 weeks into January, so if you haven’t taken action on your goals before that month, I would recommend that you begin setting goals before December ends. Don’t let the feeling of a reset pass you by.

While objectively, years are a human construct and their significance is mainly a mental matter and one of convenience, we’ve all been trained to think of a new year as a new start. Well since the work’s been laid down for us ages ago. We can tap into that built-in association and try starting a new phase of our lives.

4. You Get a Surge of Anticipation

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Then there’s the surge of anticipation, as the count down towards the 1st of January gets closer to zero. As though we were collectively flipping to the next chapter of our story. That’s an extra boost of motivation that should be tapped into. It would be a waste to feel all amped up about a fresh start and not do anything about it.

This motivation pretty much happens on its own. That is unless you aren’t looking forward to the New Year. The majority of people subconsciously hope things will get better. It doesn’t matter how amazing the current year’s been, we all hope the next one will be better. So let those emotions carry you, when you set a goal make sure you let that sense of possibility remove any limitations you’re operating with.

5. It’ll feel Like a Progressive Adventure

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Working along with a calendar if you set up your goals in such a manner that they occur progressively, it’ll feel like an adventure. January is the start of the journey and you can sprinkle milestones over the course of the year. Naturally, if your goal extends over the course of several years then it might be a good idea to have a major milestone set to be reached before the end of this year. It has to be something significant that would be a challenge to accomplish in the span of a year.

Take the approach of an adventurer, plan out your next moves and use those months ahead to their fullest potential. You can bet that people who approach a year this way get a lot more done than those who have a vague idea of what they’re hoping for. To help you set a solid goal and work your way diligently towards them, I’ve added a link to an article below to get you started towards the New Year.

As the end of the year approaches, I would like to remind you that the future always remains charged with promise. It doesn’t matter if you’ve had a few or several failures in the past. You have it in you to reverse your fortune but you have to believe that first. I’ve written a book which is currently free, as my gift to you for the New Year, I’d like you to get your own copy before it returns to its list price. That link will lead you to a page where you can choose whichever platform you prefer to read from. Here’s an extract from the book to help you quickly set a clear goal and take action.