A New Year, A New Life?

Image by shainelee via Flickr

One thing that is de rigueur with every new year is for people to make resolutions. I suppose it makes sense. The end of the year gives you a good demarcation to mark you progress towards those things that you want. What often happens, however, is that we don't follow through on our resolutions. I think we have in mind that we can change some things about ourselves without changing our lives.

Health and Fitness

There are only two ways you can be more fit and less heavy. Eat less; or exercise more. Or, if you are feeling very motivated, you can try a combination of the two. But what if you do those and still eat high-calorie foods? So long as you consume more than your daily requirement, neither is likely to work. So, clearly, a life change is in order. You have to eat healthier and exercise. If you don't do either already, then this is a change in lifestyle.

Self-Improvement

We all have something we could do better, like get some more education, increase how far or fast we can run, become more spiritual, or learn an art. Whatever. For more education, you need to make some things happen, like pay for the classes and then make the time to attend. For the running thing, obviously, the more you practice the more likely you are to reach your goal, which requires you to make the time. To learn an art, whether it be painting, guitar playing, or basket weaving (everybody's favorite), you must make the time to practice. In the end, you have to alter your life to make these things happen.

Too often we make these resolutions with the intent of getting something for nothing. As if we can still go on eating fast food every day while trying to lose weight. You can't have a sedentary job and sedentary home life if you want to get ripped. And so on.

In order to succeed at your resolution, you have to accept and be willing to change your way of life. Everything in your life is interconnected to some degree. Trying to change something and then going back to your old life isn't going to cut it. You have to accept that whatever you change, life will not be the same again. Don't say, "this year will be different." Instead, say, "from now on, life will be different." This is why you choose to do it in the first place, right?

So, I suggest, go ahead and make those resolutions; but only if you intend to change your life. Without the understanding and commitment to never being the same again, you are destined to fail. So why bother? Good luck in your new life.