It's the time of the year somehow manages to highlight all our shortcomings in areas of life we may simply have no control over at the time, like family, our geographical locations, and what's on the TV. Because no matter what channel you switch to you're being bombarded by ads of "What your loved ones really want this Christmas", and you have no choice but to question the value of the gifts you already bought, as if your relationships depend on them.
New Years, however... Is different. For one, the celebration lasts for a year.
Not only can you treat it as your ultimate Monday of your flimsy "next week", but you get to evaluate what you've been concentrating on in the past and what you'd like to amend. You can even get a goddamn calendar this time around. Two years ago (it's recently been updated again) I read this fabulous article one Cracked.com the 6 Harsh Truths that Will Make You a Better Person, and that part about counting the hours a day that you spend doing things and straightening out your priorities, that's the saddest, simplest task you can do to give yourself a kick in the ass.
Seriously. Do it.
We have all tried sticking to resolutions and most of us failed to make it through January. I don't do NY Resolutions as these obsolete laws, so here are some of my are some tactics to avoid flopping through the year entirely.
1. Write it down, for crying out loud!
You came up with them while drunk, wrote them down ("if" even) and forgot them at the NY party. Come on, we've been there. Hell, some don't even write them down! Deciding to lose weight is all fine and dandy, but how do you plan on going about it? Have you set a goal weight? Have you picked out the gym/diet/program? What will you do when you reach your goal weight? When will that happen? Then what? Write it down and be specific, design a strategy and keep reminding yourself about why you initially decided to do this thing you decided to do. You can keep working on it after you hit the new calendar and all the way throughout the year. A friend of mine sets deadlines, with very specific times and dates and milestones. I keep score of small theme driven achievements (creativity, relationships, health, etc.), by the end of the year I count up the totals and either feel accomplished or realise my life has taken some strange turns.2. Clarify the Big Picture.
So, what do you really want to achieve this year? A year is only 365 days, 24 hours each. It's the same for everybody in the world, yet somehow, some folks do more than others with this given time. Do that exercise mentioned in the article above,(if you were too lazy to read it: Take two pieces of paper and write down 5 most important things to you on the first one. Then fold it, set it aside and on the second one, write down, in detail, what you do on an average day. Do a few days. Compare your biggest time consuming activities with what you had on your first list. You can burn the first list. It's irrelevant.). Sort out where you are losing your time and if and how you would like to change this. If you know that your motivation levels tend to falter and spike, simply make those brave and stupid commitments a month ahead. Book classes and pay ahead so that skipping out on them is a threat to your stinginess! Make bets of arrangements with people you feel uncomfortable disappointing.3. Funds. We all struggle with the monies.
Take a month or a week to monitor your budget and see where the pennies are running off to. I spend stupid amounts on expensive coffee, takeaway, junk food that isn't on the shopping list, and previously, smoking. These are things I can live without. Really, so now, whenever I stand in line to pay for my vices I ask myself, do I need this treat today?No need to cut yourself off entirely, just be smarter about it. £30 saved on these things buy me a two day stay in a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Bologna, Italy.
Here's a popular one for money and priorities. Let's say you want to travel more; decide what country and apply for a visa (if you even needed one to begin with). That is the most painful process so get it out of the way, and takes a little bit of paperwork, which is the first step and scares the hell out of people for some reason. Once that's done, all you need to do is quit whining because most of the job is done. This day and age most flight tickets aren't incredibly expensive and booking.com is an easy way to get your accommodation sorted. Unless you have decided to go on a trek across the Sahara you can sort things out as you go along even if you didn't consider some things before your trip to European country, chances are you can sort them out on the spot. A very inspiring podcast on the topic is Budget Minded Traveller! In fact, most of the things mentioned in the podcast can apply to anything else you set out to do. So in most cases you will find, the money required to execute this objective is actually realistic if you compared it to your existing spending patterns.
If your objective is to make more money and you don't know what to do... You know your life better than I do. Maybe it's time to get another source of income?
4. Leeloo Mulitask
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| "So... much... to do... this year..." |
Do multiple small objectives as opposed to one big scary one with no definition, I would even try to connect them. Be specific and realistic in timelines. The budget evaluation and "where to save, where to spend" approach I mentioned above is a good example of how you can cut down on eating crap, lose weight, save money for that, um, pottery class you wanted to try after work.
Mull your objectives over, and think of how to combine paths to them without causeing y
5. Obsess.
Congratulate yourself at the smallest accomplishments. (I said congratulate yourself, don't spoil yourself .) Celebrate by catering further to your obsession. Example: -You got off your butt, signed up at the gym, went for a month and some, lost a bit of weight. Go buy yourself a new piece of awesome sportswear you wanted but weren't sure you needed. Be fancy like that. -You have decided to pursue your dream career.
Now, you're doing some crappy job/internship/course that you need to get through to get to the career you were really passionate about, but all work has it's difficulties! It's easy to get caught up and forget why you started this to begin with. No matter what, take a day to remind yourself the reason why you started this and what your reward will be!
See a topical movie, go to the museum, exhibition or an event in honour of that thing. Even if you can't be bothered, want to stay home and unwind, ask a friend or partner to drag you there, tell them why. ^this works well whether you're working in retail to pay for courses or support that dream, or if you're just uninspired in the job already.
6. This one is for the Gamers.
Do all these things with the dedication you would use while playing through your favourite RPG. Unless your game crashes, and you need to restart, you probably usually sit there and don't question much about your tasks, you sit there and do them for hours on end, because you have a single objective you're looking forward to. Skyrim brethren, have we not spent hours hunting down iron ores and fashioning endless, useless gauntlets just to max out our smithing to make Dragon Armour?Mass Effect commanders, have we not mined planets endlessly to get shit done in the game?
Do you recall the dumb shit we all had to do in any GTA?
We did it and got through it and that was just for shits and giggles, we can do far more for our life. Games don't seem so bloody daunting as life, but to be honest, life gives more rewards.
So, whether you haven't resolved to anything yet or have started abandoning your resolutions, it's not late yet. Most important thing you can do for yourself is change your perspective, the rest doesn't have to be set in stone.
Then again, if your prefer some ceremony, you still have the Chinese calender on the February 19.
Go. Sort your life out.
