Baby Steps

 Another new year has arrived and with it comes the desire to make grand new year resolutions. Somehow, we think that if we say it out loud and declare it to the world, we just might make it a reality.

Unfortunately, we have a tendency to set the bar too high when we make the new year, new me plan. Some of these goals we would be lucky to achieve in two years, and in the process of trying to make them happen, we lose our momentum. Once again, we set ourselves up for failure and end up feeling defeated.

What we need to do is set realistic expectations, take baby steps, and put no end date for completion. Any project or self-improvement is always a work in progress, and along the way our goals may change. What we had originally intended may take a twist or turn if our circumstances change.

Sometimes making one small change can make a big difference. If we want to lose weight, we should not look at how much we want to lose as we can become overwhelmed. Instead, we should try to make one small change in our daily food intake, and over time this can lead us to making other changes in what we eat each day. Eventually we will lose weight and not even realize we were working to do so.

Exercising every day is another new year resolution that we set as a priority. We start out all pumped up only to lose our ambition after a few days or weeks. In time we give up altogether as it becomes another daily chore. Even a short walk a few days a week, walking up and down stairs at lunch time, or playing with our children can give us a workout, and give us new energy that we have been lacking. The secret is not to give up if we miss one or two days. It needs to be reasonable and enjoyable to be sustained.

We also might want to consider making a resolution to do something we have never done before. Nobody said that resolutions have to be work; they can also be fun.

Whatever we strive to accomplish or improve upon in the new year, we need to remember to make it something that we can achieve. If we set the bar too high, or choose something that is not reasonably attained, then we will once again be disappointed. We need to take baby steps and give ourselves a break if we falter along the way. Anything worth accomplishing takes time, and either we will get to our goal, or the goal will change and take us in another direction. 

Perhaps that is the way resolutions are meant to be...a step to whatever is next.