This year, I am going to lose 10, no 25! pounds by exercising every single day and eating nothing but the absolute healthiest foods. I'm also going to take up meditation, to center my mind, which I will do every morning and every evening. I am going to volunteer my time and talents to an organization I care about once a week. And I'm going to write a book. And keep my house clean. And meticulously organized. And save money. And see friends more. And pick up an instrument. And. And. And.
I joke about people who drop their New Year's resolutions in March. Hell, I don't even make it to noon on January 1st with the extraordinary goals I set for myself. You'd think I would learn. But nope, I'm on the path to making the same mistake again this year. When will I learn that I'm not superwoman? Maybe that should be my resolution for 2014. This year, I vow to be a little lazy and to not put too much pressure on myself to be so perfectly flawless in every conceivable way.
As tempting as that is, my warped brain won't allow me to settle on it. I went another route. I took to Google, and did a bit of research as to what "normal" people plan for their year. Here's what I found:
- Only 45% of Americans actually make a New Year's resolution.
- Only 8% of people who do make one actually achieve their goal.
- But nearly half of the successes are achieved by people in their 20's.
- The most common resolution is to lose weight. (Shocker!)
I am choosing to focus on that third point. Statistically, I have the best chance of making a resolution and following through on it, if it is actually in the realm of possibility. There is a good chance that I may not fall into the 25% that drop their goals in the first two weeks. So, I did a little more research to find out what the most common resolutions are for my age group. I was pleased to find out that I could actually check quite a few off. I have found love. I am more than satisfied in my career and financially stable. I quit smoking years ago. Where do I shift my priorities now?
After a long 45 second debate in my head, I quickly realized that I cannot narrow my goals for the new year down to one idea. But I can contain it to three.
- Alright, I'm not that original. In 2014, I want to get in shape. I want to drop the weight I put on with these bleepity bleep pills, and I want to tone up so that I don't threaten to stab the mirror when I try on shorts come June.
- I want to spend the year focusing on my writing. I need to flesh this out a little bit more. Maybe commit to narrowing the focus of my blog and actually contributing to it once a week. Or maybe I want to seriously invest some time on that novel I've been working on. (And by working on, I mean mentioning about once every 2 months. Yeah, progress.)
- I need one goal that isn't all about me and my dreams. But I need to realize that I might not be able to take on the world. So my third New Year's Resolution is to help Boyfriend achieve his goals in whatever way I can. Whether that means playing an active role in his ambitions or being a cheerleader as he does the brunt work, I can't say yet. But after all the encouragement he has given me these past 2 years to build me up to what I am today, damn, does he deserve it.
I have 10 more days to draft schedules and implement strategies and Google patterns of successful people before this yellow light turns green on 2014. Until then, I have some solid time to do all the bad things I promise not to do in 2014. How many trips to Kopp's do you think I can fit in?
Id say you can fit in at least 7 trips to kopps ;)
ReplyDeleteYou know, I made some new years resolutions last year. I actually wrote them down, too. I made them relatively achievable, but I also made them kind of hard. Did I meet them? Well, no not exactly. But I did do a whole lot more than I would have if I just sat on my ass and did nothing. I wanted to read a nonfiction/self improvement/introspection/business type book every 2 months, for a total of 6 for the year. That doesn't sound like a lot, but I have NO time to read. I got through roughly 4, if you count the budgetary ones I read not and the ones I thought sucked so quit part way through. I vowed to learn a new skill. I wanted to learn millinery (hat making) or upholstery. I learned neither. But I learned pattern making (and something else that I forget already). Our culture focuses on the end result more than the journey. Remember that progress is progress. Period. And I think you should add #4: be kinder to myself and more understanding of my mistakes. It means I'm trying.
ReplyDeleteYou're totally right. This isn't a pass/fail thing. If you don't meet your end result, it's not a waste. You made progress. And really, isn't that the whole point of the New Year's Resolution? If someone's goal is to lose 25 pounds, and they don't lose the weight, but improve their cholesterol and other things, that should count as a success. Even if there weren't many measurable improvements, but it set you on the right path to get their eventually, that should be counted as a success.
DeleteI hope this is all making sense. I am exhausted and a wee bit homesick. And I've taken my sleeping meds.
argh... that should say "and not" not "not and"
ReplyDelete