So, here we are. 2012 is rolling on. For most people it is back to usual. Having set some really important New Year’s Resolutions they have broken them within the first 7 days, if statistics from research are to be believed!
So what resolution(s) did you make? And why?
If you’re still on track, congratulations! You are in the minority.
If you’ve already broken them, you’re in the majority. Read on.
I looked up the definition of the word ‘resolution’, as applied to this context, and this is what the dictionary said:
noun
- a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
- the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
- the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.
So why is it that we are so resolute one day and not a few days later? It’s possible that the resolution you made is no longer important because your circumstances have changed, but for the majority of people this is unlikely to have occurred in this short space of time.
So what changed?
From the EQ perspective, I teach of the importance of emotions (feelings) in determining our success. And yet, most of the time, we do not stop long enough to consider this before taking action.
For example, let’s look at a popular resolution at this time of the year – losing weight.
Resolution: I will lose some weight
Action: go on a diet
Result: we still haven’t lost the weight after a few weeks, and have probably given up because the super-duper X diet or exercise plan just doesn’t work!
For most of us, what changed was that we were feeling different about our New Year Resolution a few days/weeks after we first made it. I was given a definition of ‘commitment’ many years ago that changed my view of what it is:
Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do long after the mood you said it in has left you
On New Year’s Eve, when most of us are feeling good, we make our resolutions. When we start to take actions towards our resolutions, we don’t feel the same way anymore. The mood we made the resolution in has left us and we give up / change our mind / decide it wasn’t important after all / etc.
Successful people take action long after the mood they decided in has left them. How to be in the ‘right mood’ is something you can learn to do. It involves learning how to become the master of your emotions (feelings) rather than a slave to them. Most of us are hostage to the moods (emotions) we are in; a few of us learn how to be in the ‘right’ mood when needed.
The question for you is: are you committed enough to your life to learn how to become a master and stop being a slave? Will you fulfil your promise to yourself long after the mood you made it in has left you?
Go on then, make success easier today!