If so many people make New Year's resolutions, why don't they work? Have you ever failed one? Maybe I should ask, have you ever succeeded with one? I know I've failed hundreds. Actually, maybe I've failed hundreds of times with the same three or four resolutions. This year I put some thought into why resolutions fail. First, I think sometimes we don't set focused goals. For instance, if one of my resolutions is to reduce stress in my life, that's pretty general. What's an acceptable level of stress?
I know sometimes I confuse resolutions with wishful thinking. I may set a goal to be organized, but I really don't have any motivation to achieve that goal. I just wish I were more organized.
Then there's the people that plan for failure. They put a "sort of" or a "maybe" in their resolution. Or they may have a secondary resolution if the first one seems too hard. They might set a goal of eliminating all their debt, but then in the back of their mind they appease themselves with the thought that they'd be happy with just paying less out every month.
And one of the final reasons for failure may be tackling too much at once. Two resolutions (three at the most) are probably the most that people can handle. After all, if we change too much, we'd be perfect and who would want to be around us then?
For those of you that don't take resolutions seriously, I made up a list to amuse you!
1. Stop eavesdropping on the soap opera life of the girl in the next cubicle.
2. Quit telling little white lies. (Switch to really big black ones.)
3. Start caring for neglected children. (Starting with mine.)
4. Set a new record for the number of Botox injections received in a year.
5. Invent a type of chocolate that increases energy and burns calories.
When you get that last one done, call me!
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oh, so very true - it is more realistic(at least for me) to have one or two "goals" and actually work to achieve them, then ten and give up and not reach any.
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