Not the moment the clock struck 12 a.m. on January 1st, but over the past few weeks, I have realized the unrealistic nature of New Year’s Resolutions. Personally, I would set these big, ambitious goals for the upcoming year and then look back in December only to see how little I have accomplished. Although, I recently realized that setting those goals only encourages a negative mindset (at least personally and for what I have seen).
You shame yourself for not accomplishing some massive bucket list and only focus your mind on those uncompleted aspects. This puts the blinders on the simpler, effective things that could have had the most positive impact on your past year. Maybe you are reading this thinking, “Well, I did accomplish everything on my New Year’s Resolution list,” and then I would say, “I aspire to be you!”
Honestly, I don’t even remember half the things I intended to happen at the beginning of 2021, which made me more upset because I obviously didn’t follow through. Then I realized how harshly I was judging myself by not looking past them to also see my growth from January of last year. I feel like everyone says this, but I was truly a different person last year -braces and all!
Even if I didn’t necessarily change because of working out and becoming the “it” girl, I definitely started striding towards the transformation I wishfully intended and still do. It sounds awful to say, but it will probably hurt you a lot more when you expect so much out of yourself. Sometimes we just aren’t capable of doing so much, but that’s okay! I almost completely overlooked the improvements I experienced in the past twelve months because it wasn’t some fantasy goal I had created in my mind.
One Week at a Time
So, this year, my goal is to take it a week at a time. Based on previous experiences, I think this is the best step toward success for myself and I hope maybe for you too. Setting a few intentions for the week, slims down your timeframe to where you can still envision the future. Thinking about October 2022 seems like forever from now, so why should I be expecting something from myself not knowing what will happen between now and then?
For example, these past weeks I have been making sure to say positive things to myself in the mirror. I think this is something everyone should do because I truly think that over time it exponentially changes your mindset and outlook. Seeing how easily achievable this goal is, I carry it over to the next week, and eventually, it can only become a habit. Once this is a habit, it will be no problem to add on other goals I want for myself. Working slowly towards my intention instead of overloading myself is the most successful way to integrate positive transformations into my daily life.
Patience is the Key
Another goal I hope everyone can try and practice is patience with themselves. Believe me, I am far from this, but I think this is such an important thing to adapt into your everyday life. Last year, I began making little steps towards this by the end of the year, and I can completely see how much it has affected my life. It is such a difficult concept to understand that sometimes you just have to give yourself, and others, a break. Fixating on such high expectations of myself was hurting my mindset so much, I started allowing myself to let go of negative energies. Just because you did not complete whatever in the moment does not mean it is forever unattainable; I try to remind myself of that as frequently as possible.
I hope you and I can be able to see that obstacles thrown at us are there for a purpose. It is not life or death, and there is no need to fixate on them. You can’t grow in the future if you’re still caught up in the loss of the past!
We got this! Take it a little at a time, be patient, and envision yourself without the pressure of immediate effect. Happy 2022!
For more tips about making, keeping, and getting all you can out of your resolutions, read these other tips for goal setting in the New Year.
