Iwill write and publish a book this year”.
“I will lose 10kg and eat healthier this year.”
“I will start a successful side-business and generate more income.”
“I will take 5 online courses this year and learn a new language.”
A new year brings with it the excitement of starting all over again, a chance to wipe the slate clean, removing all the disappointments, failures and ‘could’ve beens’ of the year before.
I have highlighted a few of the resolutions that graced the hearts, minds and journals of many in January. We are now a few months down the line and the question is: how far have you gone in achieving these goals?
There are usually different types of people when it comes to resolutions, let’s look at three of them:
Type 1 – The Reluctant Pessimist
Those that like the idea of resolutions but never make any because they believe they will be unable to see it through. They believe it is foolhardy and wonder why a person would set up themselves up for failure, where failure is assured.
Type 2 – The Unrepentant Optimist
These are those who are always so excited at the beginning of the year, for them, it is a chance to do the impossible. They create a herculean list of goals and resolutions but as the year rolls by, they dread each day as it’s a reminder of all that they have failed to achieve.
Type 3 – The Assiduous Realist
These guys are more realistic. They don’t consider New Year’s resolutions as the be all and end all of life or each year. They rather plan assiduously for what they want to achieve at every time in their life and consider what they need to make it work. The resolutions and goals are usually broken down to smaller manageable goals as this makes it easier and better to achieve and execute.
So, we have a brief summary of the types of traits exhibited by people when it comes to resolutions. Which one are you? I know which one I would like to be (Type 3, just in case you were wondering). As a teenager, I was definitely a Type 1 or maybe Type 0 as I couldn’t be bothered with the idea of resolutions. Maybe this had something to do with the often touted teenage angst (angry at the whole world but not really knowing why).
As I grew older, I started thinking more about my life and the things I wanted to do. I briefly moved to the type 2 person. Each year came with a long list of all the amazing things I would do and achieve. Did I achieve these things? Barely. I was working with a 35-45% success rate.
Thankfully things have changed. My curiosity about financial independence and living an intentional life led me to a whole new world of personal finance and lifestyle resources. I have become an ardent student of personal finance and development. People like RamitSethi, Trent Hamm, Holly Johnson, Jean Chatzky and so many others have helped me in understanding and building a workable plan. These days, I strive to even surpass my goals but I must say, it is still a work in progress, as we all know ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’.
In Closing
I will leave you with this tidbit: should you choose to have resolutions/goals or you already have these for the year, remember that the idea is that these goals should work for you not you for it. Basically, your resolutions have to be things that make you a better you, your goals have to be realistic and subjective (attuned to your life not that of another person).
Whatever happens, do not let those pesky resolutions bring you down, should you fail, don’t give up, get up, dust yourself up and look for another way to achieve your goals.
