Your new year's resolution can work
I've been seeing a lot of posts lately joking about how New Year's resolutions don't really work. Change can be difficult and sometimes we need a reason or even an excuse, and a new year can definitely be that excuse, if you will.
Here's how I tend to address my weaknesses:
- Pick something you want to change about yourself.
- Make a resolution by telling yourself what you're going to change.
Be specific, and keep it simple. (I also tell myself there's no going back once I've done this.) - Identity the times you fail at the end of every day and think about how you could have avoided it.
- Go back to step 2 until you find yourself failing less.
- Go back to step 2 but this time, refine your resolution.
The key is in acknowledging your recognitions of failures as stepping stones to success.
What I've noticed when following this approach in the past few years is that the change tends to happen on its own – especially with non-compulsive habits. Example: getting irritated when someone asks you a lot of redundant questions.
The best part is that it's so easy to do. It takes me like 2 minutes and I do it every night when I'm trying to fall asleep.
Now that you've read this post to the end, why don't you use this as an excuse to change one thing about you that'll help make you a better person?