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New Year Evolutions

2018 in balloons

Written by Isaac Davis

2018 is the year I’m: losing weight, learning French, working harder, getting better, running faster, saving this, sorting that, starting a new chapter. It’s the year I’ll ___

So, how well is that going?

Well if you’ve successfully navigated the first three weeks of a ‘Dry January’ statistically you’re already a minority. In 2017, though 40% of Americans made resolutions, just 9% of us felt like these were successfully achieved by the end of December (Statistic Brain Research Institute 2017). Where are we going wrong?

Firstly it must be acknowledged that we’re on the right track. Reflection, introspection and setting goals are all great skills which take vital steps toward self-improvement. However, add equal parts of wild ambition and prior commitment, couple with a lack of planning and shake with the cold nature of success or failure – the New Year’s resolution is hard cocktail to stomach.

First of all let’s take the pressure off. Don’t wait for one day of the year to solve problems, there’s no logic in it. “2018 –The year that everything changed”, it’s not even a good memoir title! Short term goals are both more achievable and less definitive. Making ambitious targets is positive but be realistic here, let’s not forget our ‘tortoise and hare’ clichés. Putting a year between you and where you want to be is not a positive first move. And what if you do fail? I suppose that’s a question for 2019…

In 2018 resolve to evolve, take a pragmatic and dynamic approaches to break down the overwhelming.