New Year’s Resolution or Illusion?

It is that time in January again.  That time when we start questioning our New Year’s resolutions.  A couple of weeks is long enough for some of us to throw in the towel. Perhaps our resolution was too ambitious? Or maybe we talked ourselves out of it? Or maybe when daily life hit, our resolution was just too time consuming to carry out? Whatever the reason, now is a great time to re-evaluate!  Sounds exciting doesn’t it? J  Our resolutions, or goals should be considered through 3 different lenses:

1)      Is it realistic for me to achieve this goal?

         We must ask ourselves if we have the resources to even attempt to take steps to achieve our goals. Do we have the time? The finances? Do we know what the consequences of achieving this goal are? Do we know the steps we will have to take to reach our goal?

2)      Do I have a plan so that I can be successful?

         The only way to reach our goals is to have a plan. Since my field of expertise is nutritional counselling I will give an example of someone who’s New Year’s resolution is to “eat healthier”.  First we must put together a meal plan. It needs to have healthy food that s/he can find at a local grocery store.  Also, the recipes in the meal plan need to be something that s/he can make within the constraints of his/her time and ability. The plan would be to take a shopping list to the grocery store, buy the necessary foods, take them home and make the healthy meals during the week using the recipes in the meal plan.

3)      Why am I trying to achieve this goal?

         We need to choose goals that will increase the peace in in our lives. It is not wise to try to attain a goal that brings mayhem and suffering to our dearest relationships. If your goal brings conflict into your life then you need to ask yourself: Why am I trying to achieve this? What is my motivation? What is more important to me?

One of the worst things we can do is to talk ourselves out of action.  Once we have reaffirmed our New Year’s resolution we need to direct our thoughts and words to align with our goal.  It is too easy to allow ourselves to think about failing and soon enough we talk about it and before you know it our actions follow suit. Don’t let your negative thoughts distract you from your goals. Be successful in 2014!

Peace,

Nancy