Why you shouldn’t let unfulfilled resolutions stop you from making new ones
In defence of failed resolutions!
They say you should never make decisions when you are sad and promises when you’re happy. Promises are meant to be kept, and yet, how many of us can confidently say we’ve not broken one, ever? Life is unpredictable and we can just do our best to stay on track. So when we make New Year's resolutions, those are basically promises we are making to ourselves. Sometimes, we may end up keeping those and many times, not.
I have had my phase of ordering myself a venti cup of resolutions that were too huge for my appetite. The thing is, as a human, we can only process a limited amount of change comfortably. If you are working on improving everything at once and hoping for a 360-degree turn of habits, it can be very taxing.
You will find a plethora of articles on the web, cancelling resolutions altogether. But the resolutions are innocent and don’t need to be cancelled, just because we don’t know how to make realistic ones or because we don’t see the glass as half full!
Here’s why you should not let unfulfilled resolutions stop you from making new ones.
You may not achieve everything, but you will achieve something
We make huge plans, and we feel demotivated because we could only achieve 40 per cent of the resolutions we made. But why should you discount the self-promises you fulfilled? They say to aim for the moon to get the stars, and that’s exactly how you should look at it.
It helps you identify your goals
When you mindfully make resolutions, it helps you to truly identify your goals and the kind of life you actually want. It makes you think about what you are capable of achieving, making resolutions a good way of self-discovery! Once you know what you seek, can you actually seek it?
Instead, learn to make more achievable goals
Don’t blame it on resolutions, it’s you! Instead of setting goals like getting a promotion or travelling a lot, make smaller and measurable ones. Opt for things like you will wake up at 6:00 am at least thrice a week to exercise and plan your work day and come up with at least three great ideas in a year. These will not guarantee promotion but help you get better at your job, and thus make you a strong candidate for one. Similarly, for travel, you can resolve to take a certain number of weekend getaways and a certain number of longer vacations.
Plan better!
You don’t wake up on the first day of the new year and suddenly become fully ready to keep your resolutions. They are difficult and require you to make and break certain habits. Strategise better. For instance, to start working out every morning, you will have to make a habit of waking up early, which means you have to sleep early, and that involves not consuming caffeine in the evening and returning home from work on time. One goal requires several habits to change. So plan, starting from the root and build a strong foundation as you go up.
Learn from your failed resolutions
Failed resolutions are not absolutely useless; they teach you a lot. You learn how not everything goes as planned. You learn to improvise and make newer plans as life throws you off the track. You learn to keep going, despite failing. You fall, you get up, you improvise and you fly! The only rule here? Do not let these demotivate you!
