The new year is fast approaching. This is a time when many people look back on the past twelve months and think about how much they have or have not accomplished. It is also about this time that people start to think about new years resolutions that they can set on January the first, in a futile attempt at changing their lives for the better. You may be wondering why a site such as this is so against new years resolutions, are they not very similar to affirmations?
Whilst, in theory at least, it is true that new years resolutions and affirmations are very similar, in practice they work out to be very different. Why is this so? They are both conscious decisions to make a positive change are they not? Let us take a few minutes to think about the last time we heard about anyones new years resolutions. Although there may be a few exceptions, I am willing to bet that you haven’t heard about most peoples new years resolutions since they set them on new years day.
As an example, think how crowded the streets are in early January with people out walking, jogging or running. Think about all those people joining gyms and weight loss programs. What happens to these people come February? All has been forgotten and they are back to their old unhealthy ways.
Setting new years resolutions is a form of creative procrastination. If anyone was really serious about making a change in their life, they wouldn’t need to wait for the first of January. They wouldn’t need a ‘clean slate’ or a ‘kick start’. They would just do it, now.
When a person does not want to do something, they make all sorts of excuses to put it off, even when they know they really should do something about it. Waiting until new years to set a resolution and then forgetting about it the next day is no different to any other form of procrastination.
In my opinion the best book on success ever written is Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. In this book he speaks of a burning desire that is required to be successful at anything. A burning desire for change is the one thing that most people setting resolutions are missing, and without this, any resolution will be fruitless.
Back to all of the joggers and gym memberships I mentioned before. It was a fantastic idea at the time, but unfortunately that is all it was, a fantastic idea. Because these people did not have a burning desire to change their unhealthy lifestyle, they soon slipped back into the same old routine. It is no surprise either that, almost without fail, this pattern will be repeated next year too.
Any person that does possess a burning desire for change will not wait until new years day to set their resolution, instead they will look to things such as affirmations so they can get started right away.
This post was converted automatically from the old bmindful article archive. Some of the mentioned links or references may no longer exist.
“How easy it is in our life, to miss what’s being offered.” — Paul Haller