Welcome to Failing Perfect's first Wednesday's Wise Words to Live By post in 2015.
Have you made your 2015 New Year's Resolutions yet?
Some of you are thinking, "New Year's resolutions are for type A overachievers; or for overly optimistic, bubbly people who are big dreamers. New Year's resolutions are not for me."
Maybe you have chosen a resolution or two for the New Year, but are subconsciously sabotaging yourself by thinking, "Nobody keeps their resolutions for more than a few weeks anyway, right?" or, "I'll give it a try."
Or perhaps, you've decided that New Year's resolutions are a waste of time and energy. After all, if you've made a resolution for the New Year before, statistics will show that you most likely didn't stick with it for very long. You failed, and why put yourself in the position to fail again?
Well, for the first Wednesday's Wise Words to Live By of the 2015 year, I choose Hillary DePiano's quote from her book, New Year's Thieve; "You can get excited about the future. The past won't mind."
I love how this quote is so very simple; yet, at the same time, speaks so much truth.
How many times have we cheated ourselves - not only from the chance for a better future, but also of the hope that comes from reaching towards a new goal - based on the fear that we will repeat a past mistake or failure?
Granted, the fear of failure is a strong phobia. But, how will we ever achieve our goals if we don't even give ourselves the chance to succeed?
It seems to me that we have two choices when we fail: we can tuck our tails between our legs and try to forget that we were ever so foolish to think that we could really accomplish something significant; or we can try, and try again until we learn how to succeed. Shouldn't we take our failures, learn from them, change our behaviors, and then give ourselves an even better shot at achieving those dreams?
If you are like me, every year my New Year's resolutions seem to be the same, or at the very least, very similar to the ones I've made the year before. So, obviously, if I have the same goals, I have not yet achieved them. But, that is not going to stop me from evaluating my failures, resetting my path, and giving it another go.
These are my resolutions for the 2015 year:
- Fitness
- I resolve to finish my first full marathon on July 12th: Missoula Marathon.
- I resolve to be a part of a 6 member 200 mile ultra relay team on August 14 - 15: Spokane to Sandpoint Relay
- I resolve to stick to a low carb diet; limiting my sugars, grains, and starches.
- I resolve to lose 50 - 60 pounds through my training and diet changes.
- Financial/Career
- I resolve to work diligently and consistently on this blog, Failing Perfect, with the goal of generating $2000/month income.
- I resolve to stay positive and build great working relationships at work, while learning my new position and adjusting to working full-time outside of my home.
- Family
- I resolve to spend at least one night a month, enjoying a special family night with my husband and boys.
- I resolve to spend at least one night a month on a date with my husband, and take a quarterly overnight trip (just the two of us).
- I resolve to finally take that Vegas vacation that my husband and I have been talking about taking for over a year now.
I am not so naive as to think that I can stick to my resolutions and accomplish my goals without having a plan of action to go with each goal. So, I have broken each goal down into what I believe are easy, manageable steps. Now that I have made my plans, the easy part is over. Now, I have to stick to my resolutions. I need to commit.
COMMIT
So, every year, I not only make New Year's resolutions, but I also pick a word to focus on. This year I chose the word, COMMIT.
So, I hope that you do take some time in the New Year to reflect on both your past accomplishments and failures. I hope you decide to make a New Year's resolution or two. Most of all, I hope that you do not give up on your dreams - on yourself.