NEW YEAR; NEW BEGINNINGS

 A new year is a new beginning. It is like a new birth.

As the new year begins, we feel that we need to make changes in our life, start on a new path, do new things, and say goodbye to old habits, problems and difficulties.Often, we start making new plans and new resolutions. We might feel elated, inspired and hopeful, but sometimes also apprehensive.

The question is whether we will continue and persevere, or quit our plans and resolutions. Will we revert to our habitual behavior and continue living the same kind of life, without making any changes or improvements? If you want to make real changes in your life you need to take certain steps. It is great to dream big. It is a pleasure to dream. However, to make your dreams come true you need to do something about them, not just daydream.

The New Year is like a book with blank pages. How to you want to fill these pages?To carry through with New Year Resolutions you need more than temporary inspiration and desire.

There are certain skills, habits and traits of character that you need to possess, and a few steps to follow, in order to ensure that you will carry out your resolutions and make the desired changes in your life.

You need to learn to make wise resolutions, based on common sense and facts, not emotional resolutions, which you might discover a little while later to be impractical, or that you are not interested in them. It is frustrating and a waste of time and energy to make resolutions and plans and then quit them. If you repeat this behavior often, you teach your subconscious mind that you are a quitter and that you should not expect much from yourself.

What can you do to persevere with your resolutions?

Here are a few important steps and action you need to take, in order to ensure that you will carry out your resolutions and plans.

1. A well-defined goal

Without a well-defined goal you will be just drifting and might lose interest and stop what you have started doing. A general and unclear goal is not to enough, and it does not matter whether it is a big or a small goal. In both cases, it should be well defined.

If you want to go and see a movie, you need to know which movie you want to see. If you want a new car, you need to know what kind of car you want, and if you want to make changes in your life, you should know what kind of changes you want to make.

2. Perseverance

Usually, when we start something new, we have motivation and inspiration, but after encountering difficulties and obstacles, and if things take too much time to change, we begin to lose our enthusiasm and question whether it’s worth it. At this point, we need to muster our self-discipline and persevere with our efforts.

How do we keep persevering? This is a tough question. You simply need not to give up. This is what separates a successful person from unsuccessful person. It might help thinking about the benefits you will gain after accomplishing your goal. Reading about people who met difficulties and conquered them could help too.Training and strengthening your will-power and self-discipline through suitable exercise can strengthen your perseverance.

3. Action

To carry out resolutions you need to take action, not tomorrow or next week, but right now. Do not wait for the right time, because the right time is now, and procrastination means waiting for never.

To make the changes you want you need to take action, otherwise, nothing will change in your life.

4. Leaving your comfort zone

We feel more convenient and safe in a well-known environment and situation, and often, are afraid to leave our comfort zone. If you wish to improve your life, you need to be brave enough to leave your comfort zone and do different things. You should be willing to do things in a different way, and do things you have never done before, otherwise, how can you initiate a change in your life.

5. Do not listen to doubts and discouragement

Your mind might raise doubts, and family and friends might discourage you. Often, it is best not to talk too much of your plans and your resolutions. People are afraid of change, and might discourage you.

Yes, sometimes they might be right, but often, it is their fear of change that is speaking from their mouth. Think, use common sense, and get facts before making a resolution, but once you are sure of what you are doing, do not let anything deter you.

A new year brings new beginning and new resolutions. It depends on you if you are going to carry your resolutions, on your inner strength, and on your ability to continue despite difficulties and obstacles.

Make this year stand out, so that at the end of the year you feel happy and satisfied that you carried out your resolutions and accomplished what you set out to do.

By: Oluwapelumi Atanseiye (@pearlumie_)

cc: successconciousness