On Accomplishing Resolutions
CE's post last week got me thinking because I try to be process person and never set new year resolutions. I stick to vagaries or easily accomplished goals. And I set these down whenever I feel like it. In fact I agree in all ways with CE's philosophy, so I started rethinking my lofty resolution of learning espanol in 2012. It is exactly the kind resolution bound to fail without deep thought. Such resolutions are difficult because they require fundamental and forever life changes and serious sacrifice.
The first difficulty is implementing fundamental change. If you are looking to make a change, you must act and alter your way of life. For instance if your resolution is to be thin, then you must start out by loosing weight until you reach an appropriate level. You diet and exercise until you drop from 220 to 160 pounds and reach a medically stipulated acceptable weight. This effort will take time amd alter your schedule, your friends, and how you feel. It is a fundamental rearrangement of your life.
The second critical difficulty is making those changes be forever. One reason many resolutions fail is the same reason people have trouble staying thin. They can loose the weight but not keep it off. Loosing weight is rather simple: you eat less and exercise more. The problem with this deceptively simple solution is it must be maintained for the rest of your life if you want to stay thin. You cannot go on a diet and then return to your normal mode. The weight will come right back. It is the same way with resolutions. You cannot achieve a significant resolution without altering your life momentarily but forever.
The third difficulty is accepting that the action encompassed in this fundamental, forever addition to your life will be matched by an equal subtraction from your life. To make the resolution permanent you must accept the loss of a fragment of your life. If you want to be thin, that may mean never having ice cream again. Or working out every morning may mean getting into the office later and subsequently working less hours and making less money. The additions that fulfil your resolutions are matched by subtractions that may or may not be acceptable to you.
Conclusion
Significant resolutions are achieved through a fundamental and forever change in the way we live our lives accompanied by serious sacrifices. My goal to speak Spanish fluently will not happen unless I am willing and able to routinely immerse in a Spanish speaking world for the rest of my life. And I mean more fundamental than watching "Cuando Me Enamoro" at night and listening to 710AM, Radio Mambil, by day, and more routinely than living in Miami for a month or two. I mean working in the jungles of Ecuador 6 months every year like a friend or marrying into a Puerto Rican family like my cousin. Only with a reallocation of the time in my life will I meet my resolution. That all leads to deep questions about what in my life will be sacrificed.
What do you need to do to achieve your resolutions whether they be writing more, cruising more, or something else? Maybe the sacrifices needed are too much to achieve the resolution. Maybe you can save yourself the disappointment by realising the value you will not have to give up.
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