THE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION – HOW TO SUCCEED (ISSUE 159) DECEMBER 23, 2014

By Diane Gold

The New Year’s Resolution time of year is here, and our habit of setting one is age old. For this year, I’d like to offer a simple way to succeed that is easy, works for any goal and requires no self-esteem and no self-motivation.

HABITS

We all have habits, which are created from consistent repetition of the same action. We (1) get an urge by a trigger’s going off within (the urge to write music, eat, take drugs, swim) or we create our own trigger through external stimulation (leaving the running shoes next to our bed which triggers our putting them on and, possibly, some day, running in them which may trigger the urge to go out and show our newly exercised body off). Some habits add to our lives; others, take away more energy than they give.

THE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

There is a ritual of creating the New Year’s Resolution. This ritual is popular, so it turns into a habit by the very nature of peers questioning,

“What’s your New Year’s Resolution?”

Once upon a time, we set goals for ourselves whenever the time to do so was appropriate. Now, we do it as the calendar changes. So, we are peer pressured to have a resolution to announce to others and ourselves.
Motivating? Maybe, or this may just keep us in that box of doing things for others and neglecting ourselves. Unless we put the opinions, gossip, judgments of others in perspective, we may not live with honor to ourselves.

PEER PRESSURE – INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL

It is crucial to understand the difference between personally subscribing to peer pressure and externally accommodating the rules of peer pressure to be in harmony with society. We can decide that we, personally, do not put much value in the group ethic or what the group of peers is saying, or I may care about one group, and you may care about another. It’s important to act our truth. We may decide to act in a particular social manner so that peers can enjoy interacting with us and eventually understand our focus. We choose how far we compromise our ultimate truth, if, at all.

Example of peer pressure to look good:

Let’s say there are two kinds of clothing to wear, and, for today’s example, we don’t have the opportunity to make or obtain any other kind. One kind is stylish and looks runway-model-like. It is made from a combination of genetically modified cotton (which most of our cotton is) and a petroleum based fabric, polyester.

The other kind of clothing is made with sustainable bamboo that is more casual, is not genetically modified, is not sprayed with pesticides and whose crop replenishes at a rate faster than it is used.

(Note that genetic modification is completely different from plants sprayed with pesticide. Just because something is not sprayed does not mean its seeds were not genetically manipulated. And vice versa.)

People judge us. To that, we act from our own core values. Some people would immediately use the runway clothing because they would value looking stylish, glamorous and impeccably fashioned. I’m the first to say that dressing up can add happiness to the environment, stimulates the senses, makes the wearer feel exceptional and the wearer can get into more parties. I, personally, would like to look runway-model-like. But, more important to me (now, in my life) is my ability to educate about sustainability and genetic modification. So I would choose the bamboo clothes to send my message.

HOW TO SUCCEED (THE ACTION STEPS)

Whatever leads us to originate the New Year’s Resolution, we may choose this time of year to pull out a goal that feels right to us. Let’s look at the method for success:

1) PICK 1 TASK.

2) WRITE DOWN the very first action step you have to do to begin the task.

3) RESOLVE TO DO THAT TASK. Once this one step is completed, you will have completed your resolution. That’s it. Congrats.

EXAMPLE

Let’s say my giant task is to learn French. My resolution would be either to get a language book or find a course online. It would not include beginning the book or course, reading pages or producing sounds. Those would be tasks for another day.

CONCLUSION

We have discussed that our habit of setting a New Year’s Resolution may come from our habit of responding to peer pressure which may have come from our desire for recognition which may have been nurtured into us. So, looking right in front of us, without looking down the 5-year path or the 5-step path, concentrating on one step is all that matters.

Once we take that first step, we have succeeded. We may choose to take another. We like success, whether this has been nurtured into us or whether we like advancing society for its own sake. Taking 1 step allows us to complete our New Year’s Resolution entirely. If it is a worthy action, we may choose to repeat the 1 step process. The important thing is that we have set and achieved our New Year’s Resolution. Our future acts can be framed by this.

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Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She is happy to be here. She says,

“We all have amazing ideas. Often, around a new calendar year, we create a goal for ourselves. Often, we plan multiple steps and multiple goals. It’s true, we may very well succeed at these. However, a sure fire way to the finish line is to have a small scope from which to focus, similar to using a microscope or a telescope. Both these tools allow us to hone in on one piece of the whole. That’s the method. Do one simple step. This is success. If another step is needed to proceed, do it. At least, in doing so, we will begin to become an expert at taking 1 step, which is all that is important right now.

“Thank you for all your support for WarriorsOfWeight.com. May we consider a little more social justice this coming year and realize how royal we all are.

“Finally, let us all take extra good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”