Justin McLennan
Don't Push Yourself to Complete your New Year Resolutions
As we are getting closer to the New Year, many of us start setting our "New Year resolutions.” We spend time reflecting on the previous year in hopes of identifying ways we can improve ourselves in the upcoming year. We have the best intentions to better ourselves. However, unfortunately, 80% of New Year's resolutions fail by February. Why do you think that is? Why do we allow ourselves to quit so early on, on our resolutions?
It may be our goals were unrealistic. It may be that we did not arrange our environment for success. Maybe we did not prioritize them. Or maybe nobody was there to hold us accountable during those times of temptation. All of these “excuses” may have some truth behind them, but ultimately, I think the things that limit us from achieving our resolutions stem from something else. Many times the root cause for not achieving our goals is our inability to see and feel the reasons we made the resolutions in the first place.
A New Year’s resolution is typically something that excites you and something that you really wish would happen in the New Year. And while a wish may be something that you really want, a wish doesn’t necessarily have the power to pull you out of bed in the morning so excited to start the day. That is where the real magic happens. When you are able to make a resolution that excites you every morning, you don’t have any worry about not continuing to pursue that resolution way past February. There is so much power in making a resolution that fuels your passion.
But how do you do that? It all comes back to understanding the reasons you are pursuing your resolution. When you are able to identify your resolutions and break down each one with individual reasons for pursuing them, you will never quit in your life. Reasons pull you towards your destiny. So this year, don’t try to push yourself to complete your resolution. Find the reasons that pull you towards it!