Sunday, January 5, 2014

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day, after endless nights of gluttony and excess partying, we all resolve that this year will be "better." Eat healthier, workout more, read more, spend less, make more... By the following week, all resolutions are forgotten, much less, achieved.

Studies show that resolutions are easier kept when written out and constantly visualized so that one is accountable to herself for the promises she makes to her own self.

Come on: if you can't even keep the promises you make to yourself, how do you show you can keep a promise to anyone else?

Ultimately, we make New Year's Resolutions to either 1) become a better person, 2) achieve more in the game of life, or 3) both become a better person and achieve more in life. It's all the same. So to all those who make nearly unattainable New Year's Resolutions, here's something that might help:




























On a personal note, around Thanksgiving of 2013, I had a revelation. So dramatic, right? Something about my career and my personal life needed a change. In regards to my career, there had not been much movement up. The only thing I had built myself into looking forward to was the little bit of money trickling down from the industry, to the company, and then, finally, to me. For two years already, I found myself saying, "Wow, I'm in a rut and I don't know what to do."

Timing is everything. By Thanksgiving, the HR director from a much larger company asked me in for an interview and offered me a position. If the company size, structure, income and future opportunities are better than the previous, why not? I decided to take on this opportunity for the New Year, but that wasn't enough. There was still something I was doing wrong in terms of my career, and a new job did not change this fact.

In regards to my personal life, it must have been the sappy moods that Thanksgiving season typically brings on, but I suddenly realized that I'd been an uncaring and selfish friend, daughter, sister, dog mom, colleague, etc. Yes, at age 19 I had vowed to make my twenties my own: it was the selfish decade of one's life and I was determined to make it so. I've been doing exactly that; only, before completing this decade, I've come to the realization that I don't want to proceed this way anymore. Not everyone in your life will stay in your life, so why would you not want to give the most happy, loving, generous side of yourself to them?

So here comes the New Year's Resolutions part.

My New Year's Resolutions for the past few years were based off of limiting myself from negative actions, and increasing positive actions. Yes, I had achieved most of my goals, but overall, I felt like I had not improved myself as much as I'd like. This year will be different--I won't focus on limiting myself as much as striving to push my inner fire.

  1. GET MY PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. How many times in my life have I focused on the wrong thing and realized only afterward that I completely neglected a person or situation that I should not have? Straightening your priorities will (hopefully) smooth out your life.
  2. IF I WANT SOMETHING, MAKE IT HAPPEN. NO EXCUSES. Similar to the "Always Be Closing" line in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, the idea is that if you desire something enough, you will put the talent and hard work sufficient in obtaining it. Not only that, but suddenly the other fun aspects of life will seem trivial compared to obtaining your goal. With a strong enough desire for something, you will automatically participate less in unproductive events and more in "getting it." And if you don't get it, you just don't want it enough. In which case, don't even mention it anymore. 
  3. KEEP MY DESIRES CONSISTENT. For someone who is so inconsistent in every aspect of her life, this is my biggest challenge. So for the New Year, once again: NO EXCUSES. If my desires aren't kept consistent, I don't want it enough. In which case, return to Resolution #2: Don't mention it anymore.
If I'm able to achieve these goals, I'll have greatly improved my relationships with friends and family, have a beach body by Summer time, and experience a large income jump by year's end. GET IT.

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