Resolution or Wish? How to Make the Difference
By: Jacquelyn Lynn
Tags: Wishes, Goals, Resolutions, Self Improvement, Life Lessons

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? I don’t.

I make resolutions all year long.

Some I keep, some I don’t, and some get changed along the way.

And some were mere wishes that never had a chance.

The resolutions that I kept, that changed my life, all had these things in common:

I made them with a grateful and positive attitude.

So many resolutions are sparked by negatives — we feel as though we don’t have enough of something (money, friends, time), there’s something wrong with us physically, our relationships aren’t going well, or whatever.

Before I make a resolution, I put it in the context of gratitude for what’s good in my life.

Because I am thankful for this, I resolve to do that. I am at an ideal place to begin a journey to make this change in my life, so I resolve to do this.

I wrote them down.

Like any goal, a resolution we write down is harder to ignore than one that just gets made in our head.

Whether or not you want to share your resolutions with others is a personal decision — sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. But writing them down makes a difference.

They were specific and I knew what I wanted as the end result.

It’s not enough to say we want to lose weight or even that we want to lose a certain number of pounds.

If we want to lose weight, our end result is that we want to be healthier, look better, wear a certain size, lower blood pressure, be able to accomplish certain physical things and so on.

If we want a promotion at work, our end result is greater job satisfaction, more prestige, more money (whatever is driving us).

If we don’t know what that end result is, it’s hard to stay motivated.

I’ve learned to define the end result as part of my resolutions.

My resolutions had the same priority as other essentials in my life.

When I let a resolution slide because I was tired or busy, it was a resolution that wasn’t kept. The resolutions that were important enough to prioritize became reality.

They were realistic.

You’ve heard this advice: Don’t resolve to never eat chocolate again, or to never buy something you don’t need on impulse, or even to never lose your temper.

Instead, resolve to eat healthier, manage your money better, and be more understanding of others. Those are realistic life-changing resolutions.

We should absolutely set the bar high — but not so high that we’re doomed to fail.

They allowed for setbacks.

One step back is not failure. When I missed a goal, didn’t stick to the plan for a brief time, or gave into temptation, I had two choices: I could beat myself up and give up, or I could forgive myself and get back on track. When I did the latter, I kept the resolution.

I rewarded myself when I succeeded.

I celebrated even the smallest of accomplishments, but I did it in a way that doesn’t sabotage the resolution.

What do the resolutions you’ve kept have in common?

This article was originally published on my site at CreateTeachInspire.com. You can reach me there or email me at jacquelyn@contacttcs.com.

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