I THINK as one grows older new years come and they go by means of a fresh calendar year and a new birth year, but some how along the way, life really deals with us and we lose the flare and pizazz of it all. It suddenly becomes like any ordinary day and so just like that one year flows into the next, new years resolutions become the thing that ‘weird’ kids do and our lives never seem to change because we carry into every new year all our baggage, troubles and failures from the years we’ve left, or rather that have left us – how ever much of us they’ve deemed – wanting.
I was once a resolutions type of person, I started off setting loads of goals at the start of each calendar year and achieving zilch at the end of the year and feeling like an absolute failure, and I figure that’s why some of us stop really, we get to the point where anything is better than feeling like a loser, even if it means being complacent.
I moved from that way of doing things (SIDE NOTE: I’ve always been goal driven and organized, I thank my mom for that) to starting the year with three goals I wanted to attain in that specific year and every quarter I had to physically sit down and measure my progress in those three areas. These goals would consume my mind on the daily, they would sort of be my year’s mission and obsession and not necessarily just plain goals or wishes.
For example I set myself three goals in 2010:
- Get a job – I was unemployed for 7 months in 2009 following my first internship, so the job I was looking for was any job in my industry even if it meant starting afresh with another internship, by the end of January that came to pass.
- Get my driver’s licence, that happened in April.
- Get a car, my dad blessed me with one in May.
Before the year had been half way through I had ticked off all my boxes. I did this for about three years and every single time the things I fixated on, that I meditated on and put my energies towards attaining came to pass. And somehow with growing up, negativity, complacency and befriending mediocracy that side of me just fizzled. And as much as I have ticked a few boxes over the years, they were never really as intentional as the ones I ticked in those three years.
So I’ve decided to adjust my sails, shift focus once more and watch the universe conspire in my favour. I have my three things set out for the year, unfortunately I can only let you in on these at the end of the year. But I have put down, in writing and detail, 3 goals or missions for the year and every waking day these will be on my mind and every thing I do will be towards making them become a reality. Will I slip up, oh yes! Do I need a plan of action, you bet! Am I aiming for all three or is the room to slip up .. uhm.. no, no room! Let me also add here that I have other goals and ambitions besides these three, but these will be the main focus and the others will in a way come second to these. That’s the thing with goals as well, you have to have to prioritize.
Here’s what new years have taught me, feel free to have a fresh start even in the same mundane reality, ignite a fire of purpose within your own soul and chase after something, anything, as long as it sets you soul on fire and brings back the light in your eyes, you’d be amazed at how much you will actually end up achieving. We also need to learn to be accountable to ourselves, because not everyone we share our dreams with has our best interests at heart – that means we need to learn discipline, responsibility, and consistency. With all that said, it is equally important to practice patience and grace with ourselves as well.
I hope you have set yourself a goal to improve an aspect of your life. I pray you will know the thrill of seeing that goal come to pass.
Happy 2017!!
XOXO
Vee
P.S. Catch my latest video on my channel below, also about the New Year 🙂