I do not know about you, but I have seen far too many articles the past couple weeks where people have been bashing the whole idea of ‘resolutions’ and them never working, or people giving up on them too soon. Although that may be true, we should never put anyone else down for wanting to change their life. It’s a noble idea and a courageous act. Change is a hard concept for a lot of people to grasp, and it’s very rare for someone to just change overnight; hence why ‘resolutions’ usually do fade out over time. You can read more about my opinion on ‘resolutions’ by reading last week’s post, but to avoid being repetitive, I will just say this: Because the word ‘change’ scares most people away, we should instead use the term ‘improvement’, because really, that’s all change is. We are changing something in our lives because we want to IMPROVE what has not been working for us in the past. Period.
For those of you that are standing by the whole notion of, “New Year, Same Me!” I just have one question for you… Really? I mean, I understand what stance you are trying to make, but just hear me out…Shouldn’t we always be doing what we can to improve ourselves? Regardless of it being the New Year or not? But you have a point, none of us have to change, improve, better ourselves, heal, or whatever word you want to throw in the mix; but my point is that we should always WANT to be doing these things. We should always want to put our best foot forward, learn who we are, challenge ourselves to reach our full potential, and change, wait no, improve the person we were yesterday.
The word ‘change’ has never really had that great of a reputation. Mainly because a lot of people do not believe that change is possible. First and foremost, this is NOT true. Secondly, the only reason why so many will fall into this belief is because they have not truly done any of the work that it takes to notice the change happening in their life. By changing the way, we look at the word ‘change’, recognizing that it offers us a positive opportunity (and no longer as the loss of something we were comfortable with), we will be able to notice the benefits of what ‘change’ has been trying to do for us for so long…improve who we are as people.
Another large misconception about ‘resolutions’, that must be addressed, is the idea that you are never allowed to fail, slip up, or ‘cheat’ on what you told yourself you were finally done with. Although this shows your determination to fix what was no longer working for you, it is never a good idea to get locked into this way of thinking. When it comes to making mistakes, never say ‘never’. We set ourselves up for failure when we put such hard restrictions on ourselves, and if the mistake does occur, we are more likely to keep making them since we then think to ourselves, “Well, we already cheated on our resolutions once. What will one more mistake hurt?” Before you know it, you have forgotten all about the goals you set for yourself, and you are back in your old ways wondering where it all went wrong. Don’t allow mistakes being made to prevent you from continuing to improve. A set back is not a good enough reason to forget why you started all this in the first place. When a mistake occurs, and you are feeling down about it, remember that change does not happen overnight, and improving ourselves for the better is meant to last a lifetime. We are allowed to make mistakes, but we should also be able to get honest with ourselves when we begin making too many.
Change is possible. I have witnessed it occur within too many lives, and I have also experienced many extreme life changes of my own to ever think that change is a waste of our time. I am in a constant state of change, but that may also be because I believe in it. For anything to work, we must first know that it can be done. The only reason why change is so hard for people is because they do not truly know if the effort will be worth the outcome, or if they will ever get to where they want to be. By IMPROVING a little bit each day moving forward, you can guarantee that change will occur in your life. Just because you are not where you want to be currently, does NOT mean that you will never get there. That part is up to you, and you have each day to make the decision to improve.
Before I wrap this up, I also want to point out that you do not have to explain why you are making positive life improvements. You should never have to defend your reasons for bettering yourself. Some may resent the changes you are making, but please know that this has nothing to do with you. This resentment stems from a place within themselves that they may want to improve, but have never been willing, or patient enough, to see the results that come from doing just that. Be proud of your choice to want more for yourself. When we set out on this adventure of discovering our full potential, we start to see that change was never the big bad wolf trying to scare us away; change has only ever wanted the best for us, and it’s about time we start living our best lives.
This whole thing is a process, a journey, and ultimately, just a ton of individual days where we are given the choice to remain the same or improve who we are. I don’t know about you, but I am choosing the latter.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.