Today is 17th March 2018. We have completed two and half month of this New Year 2018. Tell me please….what is the position or situation of your New Year’s Resolutions? If you allow me, let me ask a few questions. I know these are not good questions to ask. Still, if you permit let me ask.
- Are you going strong and sticking to your resolutions and enjoying doing them? If so, let me congratulate you whole heartedly.
- Have you totally failed in your resolutions and you are back to square one? But still optimistic that you will try again in the New Year 2019. I am sure you have failed but I will not laugh – ha-ha-ha…
- Are you partially successful? Have you allowed a few resolutions to die like orphans after a few days? Whatever it may be, you are partially successful. Let me give you a smile and let us smile together for your partial success. Please don’t think that I am joking or pulling your leg. I dare not. You may agree that I am asking pertinent and relevant questions. It is better to review our New Year’s Resolutions after every month or so. This will give a clear picture of our performance, our intention, determination and adjusting capabilities. It also clearly conveys whether we are ready to improve or change for better. Just now I remember two beautiful lines of a Bollywood Filmi song Pehchan.
Bas yehi apraadh mein har baar karta hun
Aaadmi hun aadmi se pyar karta hun.
Its English translation can be….
Just this mistake/crime I commit again and again
I am human and I love human-beings.
You can enjoy the full song of film Pehchan picturized on Bollywood Hero Monoj Kumar.
Let me put a parody version of this song….
Bas yehi apraadh mein har baar karta hun
Resolutions leta har saal zaroor hun par har saal tod deta hun.
The English translation can be….
Just this mistake/crime I commit again and again
I certainly take resolutions every year but every year I break them.
Friends! Relax, don’t get tensed. The reality is that Resolution breakers are more than Resolution stickers. With this fact, should we be happy? Please decide yourself. But let us take it with a pinch of salt. Let us try to find out why people don’t stick to their resolutions. Statistics show that only 9.2% of people ever achieved their New Year’s Resolution and become free from their bad habits etc. etc. Let us now find out why many fail or don’t stick to their resolutions.
- Resolutions will fail – if emotion prevails without any plan and action :
As the New Year approaches we become emotional. Think how to celebrate and ring in the New Year. Also along with friends take New Year’s Resolutions. Sometimes making New Year’s Resolutions seems like a fashion. Many people take just New Year’s Resolution without much thought, plan and action.
Taking New Year’s Resolutions cannot be a fashion. We have to bear in mind that resolutions are goals. Goals should be meaningful and desirable. Goals should be personal, should not be taken on influence of others. When goal (resolution) is yours, you get motivated from inside to stick to it and make it successful. Take resolutions after making yourself ready to come out from your comfort zone. There should be proper thoughts given on the type or what resolutions to take up. Plan to be prepared for this. Only planning will also be not enough, one has to take action regularly on the basis of the plan. To succeed, don’t drift with the crowd or be part of the fashion to take resolution just emotionally. Rather try to be emotionally strong to plan out your resolutions and act accordingly to plan to succeed and carry forward your resolutions.
Let us try to understand, plan and action through these two quotations given below.
Quotation on plan :
“All you need is the plan, the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.”…Earl Nitingale.
Quotation on action :
“Your positive action combined with positive thinking results in success.”…Shiv Khera.
- Be committed and be honest to your resolutions. If not, you are certain to fail :
Oh dear! It’s your goal dear. It’s your resolutions dear. If you want to get the satisfactory result, you have to be cent percent committed and honest to your resolutions. Certainly you have to fight and come out from your comfort zone. Try to make uncomfort zone as your new comfort zone. It is easy to say but difficult to do. So fight within yourself and also fight outside in the defence of your resolutions. Here too let us have two quotations, one on commitment and other on honest (honesty).
Quote on Commitment :
“Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there.”….Haile Gebreselassie.
Quote on Honest :
“Be honest, be nice, be a flower not a weed.”…Aaron Neville.
- Self-belief gives the boost :
Self-belief is the biggest force, biggest energy to accomplish anything tough. Believe that you have the capacity to do it and you can do it. Self-belief brings miracle. Enjoy small small achievement in the journey to achieve big goals. If you lack self-belief and think to surrender before reaching your goal, you are certain to flop. Let me close this point with a relevant quote on self-belief.
Quote on Self-belief :
“If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.”…Paul Bryant.
- Lack of willpower and determination :
If there is no willpower and no determination how can you reach your destination? Without willpower and without determination you just cannot fulfill your resolutions.
Willpower, determination are very very personal things. An individual has to create it himself for the benefit or good of his own self. You cannot borrow these two from anyone. It’s not sold in the market. To increase your willpower and determination you may have to be tough with yourself. Looking into the bigger goals or resolutions, you may have to set small small goals for the day, for the week or for the fortnight. These small small goals or benchmarks you have to reach regularly in a time bound manner.
Please remember, resolutions may require changes in behavior and attitude too. One has to be self-disciplined to bring changes. It is really very very tough to make oneself free from a bad habit and cultivate a new habit. Again it is emphasized that willpower and determination are the two main ingredients for success.
Here we will go through two quotations on willpower and determination.
Quotation on willpower :
“The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and willpower to develop themselves.”….Herbert N.Casson.
Quotation on determination :
“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work”….Colin Powell.
- Time Management :
Can anyone succeed in anything in life without proper time management? Proper time management is a must to succeed in your resolutions.
Can we say that time is the best time manager? Nobody can point out its slackness, laziness or procrastination. Follow time’s discipline and determination then only you will succeed.
You only have to manage time and find out ways and means to do particular type of things regularly. By chance, if you have picked up resolutions which take up good amount of time, then you will have to cleverly adjust or plan your activities accordingly. So, there may be changes in your regular routine and prioritize your activities according to your resolutions. If you cannot adjust, you are certain to fail. Let us conclude this portion with two quotations on time management.
Quotation on Time/Time Management :
– “It is not how many things you start that make you successful. It’s how many worthwhile things you finish”. ….Peter Trula.
– “Managing your time without setting priorities is like shooting randomly and calling whatever you hit the target”. ….Peter Trula.
- Financial Burden :
Can a New Year Resolutions be picked up if it gives you financial burden? Generally it should not be picked up. If it is picked what does it means? It means…
- A serious thought was not given by you while accepting it as a resolution.
- May be you followed someone who has taken such a resolution without looking into pros & cons and how relevant and useful it is to you.
- May be you took a resolution just for the sake of taking a resolution.
My Dear Friends, It is your life. You should try to make it better and shine your life. So you have to take the right decision in right time for a right cause. Please remember, burden is a burden. Financial burden is a big burden. It will never keep your mind free to carry forward your resolutions. But, if you can bear the burden for some time, if it can give you dividend or good return, then it is worth reviewing seriously and to take a decision whether to continue or not. Remember, resolution giving financial burden, should be avoided and you should make yourself free to go ahead in achieving your resolutions. Otherwise the burden will not allow you to succeed. Let us close this point with one quotation on finance and other quotation on burden.
Quotation on Finance :
“No one ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that’s abandoned by February”. ….Suze Orman.
Quotation on Burden :
“All the food that is put into the stomach that the system cannot derive benefit from, is a burden to nature in her work”. …Ellen G. White.
- Unrealistic Resolutions :
Should anyone or can anyone take unrealistic resolutions? If anyone take such resolutions, what should we think about him?
Generally, we may think that the person was ready to challenge himself beyond a certain limit. We may call it misjudgment about self and later on he cannot cope up with the resolutions and fails.
Let us look at some examples –
If someone says, I will exercise daily in the Gym without fail; I will lose 30 pounds in 30 days. I will sincerely quit my all bad habits. I will read two books every month. If he thinks that he will do them all at the same time, can these happen all at the same time? These are all challenging resolutions. Each resolution requires great discipline and commitment. Taking all resolutions together is a big big challenge. Some resolutions take long time to get result. So, if anyone taking unrealistic resolutions means there is all possibilities to flop.
Conclusion :
Man is basically pleasure seeking. Always look out for shortcuts to achieve something without much trouble. Every resolution that someone picks up is different, difficult and challenging. To fulfill your New Year’s Resolutions, be prepared to invest your valuable time properly in a disciplined manner and stay very much motivated and focused till you reach your goals. But remember your resolutions should be realistic. Let me add two concluding quotations on this.
- “I have learned that universal acceptance and appreciation is just an unrealistic goal”. ….Dan Brown.
- “What makes earth feel like hell is our expectation that it should feel like heaven: ….Chauck Palahniuk.
Friends!
Take utmost care of your resolutions. I think we have understood why people don’t stick to New Year’s Resolutions. So, we have to be determined and strong enough to stick to our resolutions and goals in the remaining days of this New Year 2018 and try our best to achieve them.
Once again wish you a successful and fruitful Year 2018.
Bye….
…..Ratikanta Singh.