I have always been the type to make a New Year’s Resolution. They have ranged from weight loss and cooking better food to spiritual/personal/career goals. When the clock strikes midnight, I start my resolution, which I hope will make me a better, new, and improved version of myself. Yet, what changes between December 31st and January 1st? My life is the same on January 1st as it was on December 31st.
In fact, there are very few things within our locus of control that we can change. I think this is why January 1st can be such a source of disappointment for so many people. By now, the magic of the holidays has worn off; the “Christmas Miracle” for which we so fervently wished may or may not have come to pass. The lights, glitter, and music of the holidays so nostalgic and celebratory one week ago are now growing old, tiresome, and perhaps migraine-inducing.
As we go back to work (I realize some of you worked over the holidays- hopefully you can rest soon!), and kids go back to school, and we continue our routine- we find that our circumstances are unchanged from 2017. No magic occurs at midnight on New Year’s; no fairy Godmother waved her wand to transform things into what I perceive is a happier, healthier, better version of me.
We don’t have a Fairy Godmother, and yes, we are all living the lives we created for ourselves. That doesn’t mean we have to settle.
Wanna change? Change your perspective (which is fully within your locus of control). Make small steps towards change each day- and expect there to be difficulty. Expect challenges. Expect setbacks- and forgive yourself. If you fail, fail forward- learn something from it. Find something that gives you the sparkle in your eye, and run towards it, arms open, and fight for it. You are a warrior, and this is your life.
Don’t. Give. Up.
xoxo