I Resolve…Not to Make Resolutions

For many years, I made New Year’s resolutions. Most of which I didn’t keep.

Then, for the last few I haven’t made any at all because….well, why bother when I never followed through?

Still, it’s important to have ambitions and desires, right? Even if they’re not on a grand scale. Otherwise we stagnate. We never grow as people, personally or professionally. I don’t like the idea of never changing or learning new things.

So this year, as December 1st came, I began thinking about next year and what I wanted to accomplish. Instead of making resolutions, I decided to set goals. Not just goals, but to make a list not only of what I wanted to do but how to accomplish each task. That’s when I realized the way I’d been approaching my resolutions in the past had been all wrong. Instead of writing a laundry list of things to do and checking them off, I needed to look at what I wanted to achieve and ask myself how I could get there. What steps did I need to take? How could I break down something that seemed overwhelming and make it manageable?

To those of you who have already discovered this, please don’t judge me too harshly. I’ve always been a late bloomer.

As I set my goals for next year, I feel a new confidence about what I can do in the next 12 months rather than the usual knowledge that whatever resolutions I make will likely be fruitless and frustrating. I feel as though I can publish all the books I want to write this year, take better care of my health, and finally, finally clean my damn office!

Well, since I’ve gotten all that off my chest, you tell me—what goals would you like to accomplish in 2017?