Successful New Year resolutions are long!
Over the years many of us have made resolutions in January and given up in February, have we not? Well, in my case Not. It is just that I did not make enough resolutions – I seriously do not remember any resolutions at all. So there was nothing to break.
I have no clue why resolutions are made for the ‘New Year’ – there must be some history of the Christian calendar that we all follow. Resolutions and Goals are surely useful.
However, on social media I do see a lot of people making resolutions as follows –
- Will reduce my weight from 95kg to 85kg
- Will become a better runner
- Will become financially free
- I will go to the Gym from 1st January
And so on.
Somehow such ‘goals’ or ‘resolutions’ are too vague and seem to have no reason why they should succeed. Also there is no reason why it should be done. Why should I reduce my weight? Is it really my goal, or a goal given by society? What will work is “I wish to go to the gym so that I lose 12kg in one year so that I can be a better runner. Better runner means I should be able to run 10km in 53 minutes and I will achieve this by running 15 km a week…every week for the next one year”.
Now look at this goal (or Resolution) – it says what you want to achieve, why you want to achieve and what steps you will take towards it.
So a resolution which says “I will be more organised” is not a good one, but a resolution which says “I will keep my clothes and papers in an organised manner, make my bed, have a bath at a regular time, eat at a fixed time, go to the gym at a fixed hour and go to bed at a stipulated hour” is a far better resolution. Also, you should not kill yourself if you do not ‘achieve’ your goals in the first week itself.
If you resolved that you will go to the gym 5 days in a week and you did go for 4 days, it is a good start. So give yourself some leeway about how you are going to achieve it. Say you were to run 7km a day for 6 days…but end up doing 37 km in 5 days it is not bad.
Having a process-oriented goal (aka resolution) has a far greater chance of success than a resolution which is purely goal-oriented. A resolution which tells you what to do the next morning (I will run 5km a day for 6 days a week) is also very useful for the person who made the goal.
Also, the goal should be self-made. So if you are happy seeing the forests, hills, and beaches of India, you should not succumb to the “I wish to see a foreign country” kind of resolution.
It will not work unless you have conviction while making the goals.
Put all these ingredients and make your goals work for you.
Happy New Year, once more.
PV Subramanyam
writes at www.subramoney.com and has authored the best-seller ‘Retire Rich - Invest C 40 a day’