Loving Those New Year’s Resolutions

I adore new year’s resolutions. Not because I’m some saint who always manages to fulfill them all, but because it’s like a chance to reset one’s rudder. We are always growing, changing, sowing — whether we’re aware of it or not — and the new year is a chance to choose what we’re going to focus on, where we’d like to grow. I’m always filled with excitement when I look at the months ahead and think what they could hold!

I’ve made new year’s resolutions as long as I can remember. In the beginning they had to do with flossing my teeth and writing in my journal more frequently. Eventually they got deeper: I made vows to learn to love God more in the new year, and to “work on having healthier relationships.” Now my resolutions have reverted to the concrete again, though I have no idea why. I suppose am unable to philosophize when three children take turns waking me in a two-hour rotation through the night…

I digress. This year’s resolutions include…

• Learn to make Kimchi. I don’t even know what this is. Some kind of sauerkraut that everyone who eats healthier than I do absolutely loves.
• Be a reader of books. As opposed to a reader of the internet. Nothing against the internet, but if I want to be a good writer, I need to feed myself the best of the best, which means I’m going to concentrate on time-tested classics in my spare time.
• Study massage therapy. This is a big goal — a life long one I’m finally taking action towards this year.
• Make my studio a beautiful place. This will mean organizing that closet and making curtains, among other things.

Why am I sharing these goals with you? Because one of the secrets to actually getting closer to your goals is accountability. Failure is less of an option when others would know. When family or friends know about my goal, we become a team of sorts — some will cheer, some will help me practically towards my goals, others will inspire me by their progress ahead of me on the journey. Also, I’m a real sucker for affirmation, which I’ll be sure to get when I report back to a friend on a goal met.

Another reason I love resolutions is that I’ve learned the little trick that turns them into New Year’s Predictions — something that turns goals into actualities. It’s not magic, and you’ve heard it before: just break each goal into smaller, daily tasks. This takes a little planning, a little setting out on paper. Big goals like learning massage might require a calender and the index of a massage therapy book, dividing out the chapters over the next year. Little goals like a new recipe mean jotting down new ingredients on your shopping list for this week. But if you take the time to divide that goal into small, daily or weekly tasks, and then show up the next day ready to roll your sleeves up and get to work (even if it’s only for 15 minutes), then by February your year might already be shaping up to be one filled with personal growth milestones.

Personally, it’s going be great to have curtains in my studio. I’m going start on that tomorrow.

Have you made a plan that will turn your resolutions into predictions?