As each year comes to an end, many of us are engaged in making “New Year’s Resolutions”. The problem with most of our resolutions is that more often than not we do not keep them. Fitness centers become remarkably busy in January but by April are back to normal. Those who consistently value fitness continue to work out at the gym. Most of the ones who made a resolution to get fit have abandoned the effort. The same often goes for resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, get more organized, etc.
There is a difference between resolutions and goals. Resolutions are statements of a decision to do or not do something. A goal is the result to which effort is directed. Stating that you plan to lose weight next year is not the same as setting a goal of losing 20 pounds by June 1 and creating a plan to do so by diet and exercise.
What are some of the things you want to accomplish in the year ahead? What would you like to improve in your career, your health, your relationships, your financial situation, your skills,and abilities?
Once you have identified a few important goals for the next year, determine a reasonable deadline for accomplishing them, and establish what steps you need to take to achieve them. Now, throughout the year, you can make decisions consistent with your goals.
If we do not make an intentional effort to envision our future and think about what we need to do to realize it, the next year will go by and we will find ourselves then where we are today. Progress does not happen without planning and action.
There is a concept that economists and social scientists call myopic thinking. Myopia is a term for near-sighted vision. Most people have long-term goals like losing weight, saving money, quitting smoking, or beginning a workout program. In the short-term, however, their decisions are inconsistent with these goals. They want to lose weight but do not want to start the diet or exercise program today, maybe next week. They want to save money but really want to buy some new clothes, so they plan to start saving down the road. The problem is that point down the road keeps being down the road. The same is true for other important, but sometimes difficult long-term goals. The plan is always to make the needed changes at some future point, not now.
Myopic thinking leads to myopic decision making where we continue to make decisions that are inconsistent with our goals, always believing that there is time to make the changes later. This approach is guaranteed to lead to frustration and failure to achieve your goals. Having clearly identified goals is part one of making improvements in your life, part two is making the right decisions along the way to accomplish those goals.
Pastor and author Norman Vincent Peale once said, “In the long run, you determine what your life will be by your decisions. You can decide yourself into success or failure, into mental turmoil or mental peace, into unhappiness or happiness”.
Instead of making some new year resolutions this year, set a few important goals for improving your life, then create a plan and a timeline to achieve them. Monitor your progress and consistently make the decisions that will lead you to your goals.
Have a safe, prosperous, and fulfilling year in 2021!
Kent Shafer 