The one and only New Year’s Resolution you should (ever) make!

First off, let’s be honest here. I’m usually hung over on January 1st. So whatever I want to ‘start’ doesn’t begin until January 2nd. But then January 2nd doesn’t feel like a good day because it’s my first day back to whatever it is I’m doing.

This year, January 2nd is on a Friday. Don’t know many people who’ve started worthwhile things on a Friday. Not a good excuse but it’s true.

So I wait. And before I ever started, my resolution has dissolved.

I don’t know many people that have actually followed through on a New Year’s resolution either. Do you? Have you ever?

Largely because most resolutions are simply wishes. Not goals. As we know, a wish is a goal without a plan of action.

But the real reason why most people never make good on their resolutions (or promises to themselves) is because we human beings constantly rationalize. That’s how we make sense of this chaotic and insane world. Thankfully, it’s innate otherwise we wouldn’t be able to function.

Every moment of every day, you’re telling yourself a story of what’s going on around you. Your boss, your friends, your job, your clients, your students and even this very blog post you’re reading!

Either you’re mentally nodding in agreement with what I’m saying (if it fits your world view or how you see things) or you’re shaking your head in disagreement (because this doesn’t fit your world view).

All day long, you’re telling yourself a story of your own actions and rationalizing it against your perceived self (which is your ego). For example, if you think you’re a very ambitious and motivated person then anything you do that doesn’t fit into ‘being ambitious and motivated’ like watching endless hours of TV, or procrastinating for days on something pressing then you’ll rationalize that.

“Well, I need a break! I don’t want to over work myself, etc., etc, etc!”

Maybe if you’re self aware and honest enough with yourself you’re able to see right through your own crap.

Or maybe not and you’re delusional. As I said in my post about ‘How to tell what someone really cares about’ some people believe that there is no relationship between what a person is and what a person does. This is bull secretion. Unless you are schizophrenic, you become your actions.

So what to do?

I think the only resolution you should make is to be brutally honest with yourself.

But of course, if you’re not, you’ll rationalize that too.