A few days ago, I was checking my Facebook enjoying the pictures and updates of the holiday season that my friends and family posted from all over the world along with their new year’s resolutions. As I was scrolling, I came upon this particular image that one of my friends posted. The quote read, “My goal in 2015 is to accomplish the goals of 2014 which I should have done in 2013 because I made a promise in 2012 and planned in 2011.” After reading that I immediately laughed out loud because I could relate to it and I know many of you readers will also. As a matter of fact, in a study done by the University of Scranton in 2013, only 8% of people who made New Year’s resolutions actually completed them.

So what separates the 8% from the rest of us? From my experience, certain goals are more difficult to meet than others. For instance, there was one year sometime after college that I decided to go to the gym every day with the hopes of getting back into shape. In the first few months, I made going to the gym a part of my daily routine and no matter what, I made sure to get my butt on the treadmill. Then as the warmer months approached and the weather started to become more ideal for hangouts, barbeques and other “fun” things, I saw myself making excuses for why I couldn’t work out that day. Slowly my regular attendance to the gym dwindled down to zero and that was it for the rest of the year.

If I had to describe myself in a few words I would say that I am somewhat of a perfectionist. When I am given a responsibility, my perfectionist side makes sure that I complete it to the best of my ability. In the event that I make a mistake or an error, I find myself quite frustrated and disappointed. I mention this about me because I realized that it also affected the success of my New Year’s resolution. My attempt to get back into shape totally flopped and it was very short-lived. At the time, I blamed it on laziness and lack of determination. However, being a few years older and looking back I can see that the break in my every day cycle of going to the gym meant that I had already made an error and as a result, the perfect attendance to the gym was no longer perfect. The disappointment I felt made working out less and less desirable; I figured, if it isn’t “perfectly” done, then why do it at all?

Learning from that experience, I decided to set another resolution the following year. Instead of working out every day, I made a plan to exercise about three times a week, not setting specific days so I could have options and a bit of a leeway. Giving myself some flexibility with achieving my resolution made it successful because I felt less pressure and I had minimized the room for “failure.” In addition, I made an effort to speak out what I had hoped to do and accomplish. For example, I kept reminding myself throughout the day that I would work out that evening. These verbal reminders seemed to hold me accountable for what I had to do and it contributed to my accomplishment.

Perfection isn’t what I should aim for but more importantly it is about being real with myself, giving it my all so that I have no regrets and then accepting the outcome of it. And during the process of it all, speaking out what I hope to see happen is another way of anticipating my efforts come to fruition. Everyone should aspire to become better and make every year a learning experience. I hope this year is filled with joy and success and I challenge you to take the opportunity of the beginning of this new year to set some goals for yourselves that are realistic and doable. Don’t be discouraged if you fail midway and pick it up again as soon as you can and then literally tell yourself that you are going to do it and then do it.

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