Come December and here we are at that time of the year again when chilly winds blow in the Northern region, hills are draped in a beautiful white blanket of powdered snow; frost laden rivers glisten in winter sun, days shrivel and berries swell, a golden glow of crackling fire from cozy fireplaces filters out from glass windows and homes are warm with festive cheer and savoury aromas. Aye, it’s winter and we are on the verge of welcoming another year.
A new year brimming with new excitement, new challenges and some brand new milestones to be engraved in life’s journey.
As we once again stand at this threshold we tend to look back at the going year with a tinge of regret… perhaps, about a place we wanted to visit but couldn’t, a relation which didn’t go as per our wish, a choice gone wrong… But more than these we are upset about things we meant to do but remained undone for an entire year.
And know what?
Without our realizing it, these become our New Year’s resolution- the glossy trendy version of our undone, incomplete stuff.
Year by year.
Remember, that dress you wanted to fit in still lying in the back of your closet, that haircut you wanted, that subject you meant to switch to, that trip, that blog you so wanted to write, gosh those heels you so wished to wear, that manuscript you wanted to mail to the publisher… Ah, the endless list of undone things.
So where exactly do we go wrong?
And How to avoid this next year? Unravel this with some homework tricks .
One – Create a 12 picture collage of the current year’s best moments. Best doesn’t mean to be the most glitzy ones but the moments where you felt loved, appreciated and valued, moments you’d love to relive.
One for each month.
Result – This exercise would remind you of the good times you had every month and if you can’t find even a single one for a month then you’d learn to ‘create’ these in the upcoming year, thus automatically filtering out some and adding certain other habits as well as people, Right?
On the practical side, it will help you delete the not so important pictures from your gallery giving a Lot more phone space! Trust me you’d Thank me later.
Two- Write down a minimum of 10 gestures or deeds you feel proud of, this year. It can be academic excellence, or change in your certain behavioural patterns, a good habit you acquired, a fitness goal achieved, a financial goal checked , a boundary you successfully set in a tricky relationship, or the ice you managed to thaw in a difficult one… anything which helped you grow and bloom as a better person.
Result – **This will point out that if you’d already done any of that, definitely you are already more loved and respected.
You’d feel a sense of accomplishment.
If not, make it a point to ‘find’ such situations to grow and help grow, I promise , on the eve of next new year you’d be looking back to a ‘richer’ life.
Three – Turn your dreams into goals
Dreams become achievable goals when you put a date to them.
Let’s say last year’s unfulfilled desires are – Reaching ideal fitness, Gold in science Olympiad , running a 10 km year end marathon, To be the editor of the school magazine. All these can be easily achieved by finding two hours daily.
See how –
For fitness- wake up an hour earlier than your usual time and you’d be exceptionally fit by 1st June.
This will help you to shine in the year end marathon on 1 October.
For science Olympiad – practice questions daily for one hour after school. You’re ready for 21st August.
For magazine Editor – read literature to broaden knowledge by switching screen time to book time. You’re ready to apply on 1st November.
By making a small difference daily dreams and wishes turn into solid reality. And homework one and two has already given you new goals to pursue! Write a date!
Lastly, remember what Bruce Lee said, “Be Water , My Friend”
Do not resist or struggle, neither surrender but find a way. Either wash away obstacles else turn around them, circumvent, jump over, pass under, do whatever it takes but reach your goal on time. In 2024 Be water.
Be unstoppable.
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