Not Resolutions

     People advise against making resolutions for the New Year for the practical reason that most don't succeed at keeping them. I agree with this.  I feel anyone who has the determination and self-discipline to keep resolutions, are the kind of people who don't need resolutions.
    I don't know if there is a negative side effect to making and failing to keep resolutions, other than having failed. Supposedly, experiencing personal failure is unhealthy for one's self-esteem or whatever. I feel that has more to do with (having the wrong) perspective than anything else. (See post "Success Via Failure").
    The main problem I see with resolutions is that individuals often see it as an all or nothing situation. Once broken, the resolution loses it's power. Once or twice, folks are willing to start over, but after the third failure they give up. And often by giving up they move in the opposite direction of their goals and further away from whatever they were trying to accomplish.
    On the other hand, almost everyone is in favor of setting goals. Goals are good. Goals are seen as something you keep striving to attain, despite setbacks. You get up, keep going, overcome, try again.  
    With goals, unlike resolutions, people are expected to not always succeed in every step. It's okay to fail in several attempts, as long as you can regroup and try again, and again and again. Goals also have room for adjustment, and can be reached in different ways, which is rarely true of resolutions.
    So it's a matter of perspective. Instead of a resolution to eat healthy, which is not something that can be done all the time, vowing to eat healthier is doable. Exercising every day may become overwhelming, but exercising often is easier.
     Writing a certain number of words a day, for me, is impossible, but if I give myself some room, like an average number of words per week, I can manage. It's a matter of avoiding the always or never principal. And as with so many things, it's a matter of perspective.
    This year, I resolve to keep a healthy perspective toward achieving my goals.

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