Most New Year’s resolutions suck. They sound all lofty and noble on January 1st, but 10 days later they’re just a reminder of how we’ve failed. Again. 
A business blogger I follow, Shannon Cherry, just produced a great video about the “New Year, New You” lie. She talks about how we think we can radically transform our businesses just by buying a new product. But nothing can do that because we are fundamentally the same as we always were.
While her focus is on business, her message is just as powerful when we apply it to our personal lives.
As January begins, many of us are thinking about goals and resolutions for the new year. Maybe we want to finally get in shape (when we’ve carried that extra 20 pounds for years), run a marathon (when walking to the mailbox has us winded), or read a new book every week (when the last book we *barely* cracked was in our high school English class).
A few weeks into the year, we’ve fallen off the bandwagon, given up on our goals, and feel bad about ourselves for being quitters. Ever feel that way?
The problem is that, most of the time, the resolutions we make are so contrary to our true selves that they’re bound to fail from the beginning. “There is no new you,” Shannon says. You re the same person you were on Dec 31st. Nothing about you magically transformed when the glittery ball dropped in Times Square.
For that matter, there’s nothing magical about New Year’s Day at all. Who says we have to wait until the New Year to make goals and resolutions anyway? Every day is a new day, a new start. Every breath we take gives us another chance to change directions, improve ourselves and move closer to our goals.
So if you set goals or resolutions – for the New Year or whenever – make sure they align with your true purpose and your inner nature. Don’t take on someone else’s goals as your own. Don’t join a gym because that’s what all the magazines say you should do to get fit. Instead, improve your health in a way that works for your personality and lifestyle.
Shannon says that we find success in business (and I would add, in life) by “taking who you are and adding your stamp on the things you do.”
Now that’s a resolution I can keep 🙂
