Updated December 2022.
CBS News polled Americans this year to see where they stood on making resolutions. The overall number is down sharply from the past two years. It was a tiny sample, but the number is a leading indicator. People are less likely to want to commit. The vague choices of losing weight or being financially better are not what you or the universe want to hear.
Please consider this; you are the author of your own story. Create resolutions and intentions that are practical, specific, and meaningful to you. Only to you.
Make it Practical.
Shortly before or after each New Year’s eve, tens of millions of people make a resolution to become a Zen Saint. ZS have perfect willpower and can overcome earthly or practical needs and wants. They promise themselves that their New Year’s Resolutions will become life-changing and [personal] world-altering events. The resolutions are often far from who we are or lack the support system to become a reality:
- I will work out every day -> Last year, I went to the health club once or twice a month.
- I will become a vegetarian ->. I am the only one in my family of five that will live this lifestyle.
- This is the year I will be a better person -> I have never been involved with social justice.
The resolutions are noble, and no one would fault you for trying to achieve them; shoot for the stars and land in the clouds. Too often, within a few weeks, the dramatic changes we impose on ourselves are found to be unobtainable and unrealistic, and we become despondent. We give up because we don't have a path or plan to achieve them.
