Wow, 2015 is here. Yesterday my husband was watching Back to the Future 2 and you know what year they went to in the future? Yup, you guessed it 2015!
With every New Year comes the making of new resolutions. I’m sure you have seen the articles and posts everywhere about this: how to make resolutions you can stick to, 5 resolutions you should make for the New Year, tips for making New Year’s Resolutions, etc. There are tons of them. Some have good advice, others not so much. However, this year I have heard one message repeated that stood out to me, “Don’t set yourself up for failure by setting resolutions”.
Honestly, I can say that I understand the reason behind this thought; I hate failing at things. But, this year when I heard that message on a commercial it made me think a little differently.
Are we that weak as people now that we won’t set goals for ourselves because we are too afraid that we won’t succeed? Does our own word mean that little to ourselves that we don’t stick to a plan that we establish for ourselves? Are we so afraid of failing that we don’t even try anymore?
I read an article where a woman explained that this year she wasn’t setting strict resolutions for herself because she didn’t want to deal with the pressure and guilt of not succeeding come the following year. So she set two extremely vague goals for herself so she could feel good about it at the end of the year even if she barely did anything.
What good does that do for anyone? Why even bother setting a goal when you make it something that you don’t have to put forth effort to accomplish?
Why are we so afraid to fail? Why can’t we set lofty goals for ourselves that motivate us to push during the year to accomplish something and then even if we don’t accomplish 100% of what we wanted to do, still feel good that we pushed ourselves throughout the year? Notice that guilt wasn’t a part of that at all.
So, with that being said, here are my recommendations for goal setting:
- Don’t be afraid to set big goals for yourself. If you set little goals, even if you accomplish it, you only did a little. If you set big goals and don’t accomplish them, chances are you are still going to be a lot closer than if you didn’t set the goal at all.
- Don’t set goals/resolutions just because you think you have to. You know these goals: lose weight, quit smoking, read the Bible in a year, etc. If the resolution isn’t truly important to you, then don’t waste your time because you aren’t going to put forth the needed effort. Make sure you really think about what your goals are.
- If you make a resolution or set a goal, make a plan and then actually do it. I was reading a devotion from Joyce Meyer the other day where she talked about needing to do the right thing even if we don’t “feel” like it. If you really want to lose weight and decide to cut out dessert, you might “feel” like you need that brownie, but you can decide not to eat it anyway and eventually your feelings will catch up with your right action.
And, that is what it all boils down to: Set goals that matter to you and then work towards accomplishing it.
To be honest, I haven’t set my goals yet, but I will be setting some goals this year because I feel too guilty not to – just kidding!
Have you made resolutions for 2015?
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