Beyond January Resolutions: Discover Life Management for Year-Round Success
December is just around the corner as I write this piece.
The mild chill of winter is here. Coffee brings more than great flavor. Soon the stark monochromatic beauty of winter will make everything look wonderous, gloomy, and mystical at once.
Yes. This is that time of year, again. Family, fun, and love are in the air. Festivities abound. Work is reducing off its peak and a well deserved vacation awaits. We are about to close the books on another year.
When this rush subsides, another phase of this same time will begin.
The phase of self-reflection. The one which asks us to assess the year that was. How did we do? What went well? What went wrong? Was it a good productive year, a year to forget, or just another like so many others?
This report card of self-assessment will bring an array of feelings such as- the elation of success and the satisfaction of progress, despair of what we really wanted but missed out on, gloom about what could have or should have been, or simply a big sigh of relief that the year is finally ending and we get to start again with a clean slate. For most of us it will be a mixed report card.
For most of us December is the time to celebrate outside and reflect inside. The reflection will continue until we give up. Then one fine January morning we will find ourselves full of hope again.
A new determination will rise inside us. Our minds will find new ways of focus and motivation. Yes, the new year is here. Time for new resolutions, promises to ourselves and to our loved ones, to make sure we make this year count.
This post is however not about December, or January. It is about February and beyond. To do that we need to first play out the January.
The new resolute self of us, meets the reality of time as we return to our normal routines. Turns out while there are a lot of wishes, nothing has really changed. At least meaningfully. Soon things will be back to normal. That long to do list of what we wanted to achieve this year, has likely already pruned down due to misses or realization that it is a fruitless quest. That clean slate, the second chance, is already slipping through our fingers.
We keep walking around with the burden of that expectation we had from ourselves, or the unfinished goal which would have been a milestone in our life. Shoulders are already drooping, frowns are back on. At some point, if the goal is important enough, we pick ourselves up again, reaffirm our resolve, and take another crack at whatever it was we wanted to do.
Yes, that is January for most of us.
Depending on our personalities the timeline may play out differently but the arc will remain similar.
Wasn't our surge of positive thinking and motivation, supposed to help overcome this strong gravitational force our demanding lifestyle has imposed on us? This surge was our big hope. The hope to escape from our limitations, to the life of freedom. Where we could reclaim the joys of living, have control on our own life, and get to decide our own priorities, be able to do what matters most.
What happened in January, happens during most Januarys. So while it confounds us it does not surprise us.
This process has become an internal ritual. The internal tug-of-war between aspiration and reality. The process of planning and struggling, and then failing, regrouping and then planning again.
What if the motivation runs out again?
What happens when motivation runs empty, mid journey?
The cycles keep repeating. We keep coming back to yet another December, yet again with the same reflection.
Why should we let this cycle repeat itself one more time, when we already know how it ends? A step further, why should it be that we feel we can do better in January than, say, in May? or September? This does not seem logical because it is not.
We need a better way to get the most out of each day. We do not have to live by hoping changes in Calendar dates will make our goals and dreams come true.
So why is this post about February? Because it represents that time of the year where we are ready to be real in our choices. More grounded yet optimistic.
What could perpetually fuel our drive to be at our best, at all times throughout the journey of our lives?
Turns out success, purpose, and meaningful achievements bring their own motivation. They help up to carve new paths and to reach for reach goals we could not even think about or see earlier. They not only make them real, they make them beatable. This is true growth. This together is the positive cycle of accomplishment, hope and belief that makes life enjoyable and purposeful at the same time. This cycle like others is able to sustain itself.
The good news is that it does not depend on any calendar date. It only depends on us.
So let's stop worrying about calendar dates and go beyond January Resolutions. Let's say good bye to fleeting bursts of external motivation whether they be from calendar dates or inspirational video we watched. We can do it right now, the moment we decide to.
Let's start today.
Let's fast-forward to February and start making good choices today. May be we can still have a better end to this year, and an even better start to the next one.
This is where Life by unClock, your all-in-one life management app, can help act as your compass. Try it today, you will see the difference right away. A sense of purpose, of actually taking control, of actually creating a wholesome life balance. Find out more about Life by unClock here. You can know more about Life management here.
Happy New You, Everyone.
