There are two mistakes that people make before they even begin to think about their New Year’s resolutions.
- They think about what they should do, rather than what they really want to do.
- They think about what they should stop doing, rather than what they actually want to achieve. “What should I do this year?” “What should I stop doing?”, “What do other people suggest that I should work on?”
To be successful at any “change”, you really need to want it! Unless you take time to consider what it is you really want (rather than what you should do or should stop doing), you will invariably end up making a resolution to which you are not entirely committed.
Without commitment, you aren’t motivated and after the first obstacles or setbacks you will give up. The first rule of New Year Resolutions is only to make ones that you are committed to – don’t make a resolution simply because it is “the thing to do”, or because someone has told you that you should do it.
The irony of it is that New Year’s resolutions have the potential to be very powerful, because making them is such a well recognized practice. Everyone knows that everyone else is setting New Year’s resolutions. And what a great mutual support network that can provide! This external motivation and support, along with your internal motivation – the desire to succeed – is what can make the difference between success and failure.
Thanks for reading this week’s Thomas Printworks Blog!
