Why You Won’t Achieve your New Year’s Resolutions

Why does this keep happening to me? Why I can’t seem to discipline myself to get where I want to be? Oh well, next year I’ll do it, I guess.

If these are the type of thoughts that were going through your mind last December 31st, let me tell you that you aren’t the only one.

2021 was a great year for me, even though I didn’t accomplish all of my goals, I still learned a lot from the unexpected events that happened these last 365 days. But on New Year’s Eve, I was there. Sitting on my grandma’s couch, thinking to myself, why it’s so difficult to get where we want to be and so easy to fool ourselves with New Year’s resolutions?

After some research and some meditation, I finally came to the answer to my question.

The importance of defining your why

This is perhaps the most important point of them all.

When we get to propose our 2022 goals we tend to only focus on what we want to get, disregarding to its full extent the reason why we want that thing. By just focusing on the thing we want, we then become purposeless, and the motivation that we can reach will only last a few days, maximum a couple of weeks.

That’s why is so crucial to have your reason present at the time you define your resolution because that will help you start planning out how you are going to work towards the accomplishment of your objectives.

Let’s say one of your New Year’s resolutions is to lose 20 kilos. Great, you have your what, but why do you want to lose weight in the first place? That answer will give you the insight and the motivation to invest time in how you are going to lose 20 kilos. Otherwise, if you just focus on the what, you’ll most likely end up saying the first 2 lines of this article at the end of 2022.

The misunderstanding of the process

Another key reason why most people consciously leave their goals and keep living the same life.

In today’s society, we are used to getting everything in the quickest way possible. The perfect example: social media.

We are constantly bombarded by rewarding chemicals in these social apps that our brain just adapted this way of living. So, when we don’t get what we want in the short term, our body naturally tells us that is not worth it since you can get that same satisfaction scrolling through Tik Tok videos.

That’s how the modern person is programmed.

To break this vicious cycle, we must understand that everything truly worth achieving in this life, is going to take time. Is going to take consistency and dedication to get that thing.

In my case, one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make money out of writing. Why? Because I want to have some income, made by myself, to buy me clothes, videogames, to invite a girl to hang out, etc. Also because I love to write and I genuinely enjoy it, and that’s another thing.

You have to enjoy the path that you’ve set for yourself

It doesn’t need to be a pain in the ass to get what you want.

Some days it will feel like it. Some days you won’t have the motivation to do it. But if you consciously know by doing it is going to get you closer to where you want, then you should strive for it. That will build a strong mind through time as well.

In the end, you should be more proud of what you did to get there instead of finally getting there.

And also, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard. That will eventually burn you out and not want to do it anymore. Alternatively, you should add small changes continuously to your lifestyle. That definitely is better than remodeling your whole life in an instant.

Just remember, treat it like a marathon, not a sprint.

Too much saying, not enough doing.

You can’t just hope to wake up one day and because you said that it will happen, suddenly happens.

No, that’s not how life works.

To achieve the things that you want, you have to put in the effort. If you want to be better at school, then put it in the time and study. If you want to learn a new language, then put in the time and invest your day learning the language.

It’s not hard to understand it. It’s a basic concept yet so difficult to take to practice.

And the realizing part of this is that nobody is capable of changing your life other than yourself.

You have all the capabilities to either make your life better, or stay the same that you were in 2021, and from 2020, and so on.

Thank you for reading my perspective on how I will see this New Year’s beginning.

I would love to hear your opinions about this. So leave a comment and I will be more than glad to hear how are you going to take this coming year.

I appreciate everyone reading this, and I wish you a lot of success in 2022.

Have an awesome year!