Growing up, the idea of New Year Resolutions stuck with me for awhile. After continuously hearing this word propagated by several authorities of thought, I cashed in on it.
Many times, I believe these authorities of thought exist in their own rights. They keep saying “take charge over your life!” Like you are just idly sitting over your life, doing nothing. And these authorities extend even in places of religious settings.
It is one motivational speech or an uplifting encounter and you are wondering where your life is heading. You know that psychological play? Yes, we are on the same page. They use it all the time!
So, growing up, I did my New Year Resolutions. I followed the instructions I heard regularly. Got a pen and paper, wrote my resolutions, and placed it on the wall at the beginning of the year.
This talk of resolutions is quite old. It is a common discourse at end of the year periods like these. And for the young lad I was, wanting to be “intentional” with my life; I used this white Cello tape to paste my New Year Resolutions on the wall in my room. Months later, I was struggling to prevent my New Year Resolutions from falling. I changed the tape, used gum(in fact).
At a point I let it fall. And in the middle of the year, while I was doing some in-house cleaning; I saw some blue ticks over the resolutions I made. There were too much for a single year, but that experience stuck with me years down the line.
Despite the fact that I couldn’t achieve those things then, doesn’t mean New Year Resolutions are not effective. It may work for some but not everybody.
But that’s not the fact. The fact is that you don’t have to unnecessarily plan the year to be successful. Success is a game of virtues and habits. In all our dealings, we forget that simple fact.
It is the little decisions we make and take on a daily basis that determines if your year will be well made. Forget what that speaker is telling you. It is “bobo.”
What stops us the most from moving forward is our fears. Without those fears; we are good to go. But nothing comes easy in life. And this is not because some people have resolutions and you don’t.
Many times we take decisions and don’t know where they will leave us. What of the person who is tired of a particular industry and takes a resignation because he has found out he is not happy. He knows what to do next but can no longer continue the previous hussle.
Now, someone would say keep this job until you find another but will that time ever come? What then happens to his happiness?
Human efficiency dwindles when they are not in the right states. So, making a bizarre decision by prioritizing happiness over money may not be the best of options but the only right option in seeking fulfillment.
In the realest of true life stories, you don’t even know for sure if your are making the right choices or decisions. We just take the plunge and hope deep down it pays off. Life’s questions are open ended.
What we need is not a long list of resolutions or any long list. What we need is developing a thick skin to our fears and going all out to achieve greatness. Seek to make each year truly better by doing new things, you’ve never done before. That is what makes a good year, not piling papers and blue ticks over dreams.
Success is failing at the same thing to succeed. Don’t let anyone deceive you that you must get it at all times. You have to learn, unlearn and pay your dues. Cultivating the right habits helps to make a New Year well lived. Otherwise you will just be carrying paper scraps and failed dreams.