As my alarm went off this morning, I laid in bed thinking, “I still don’t have a New Year’s Resolution for 2019.” As I went about my morning, I turned on the radio and listened to people call radio stations to share with the world what big changes they see for themselves in 2019. Then I thought about all those excited people who will steamroll over their own resolution before the end of January.
Listen to me when I tell you that there is nothing wrong with you if you can’t hold onto your resolution. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you!
I find that people have the most genuine of intentions when setting a New Year’s Resolution. After all, who doesn’t want to see the new year end better than the last? Often though, those resolutions are tainted by one silent killer. It’s perhaps the longest running joke – at the stroke of midnight, something magical happens and everyone is suddenly racing towards their goals like a kid in a candy store. Then suddenly its February and a good amount of resolutions are in a metaphorical graveyard followed by a cloud of shame. “I did it again,” You think to yourself. “I didn’t stick to my resolution.”
I’m here to tell you that you aren’t broken. You are not lazy, or uncommitted. You didn’t see the silent killer of resolutions lurking in the corner.
“What is this mystical serial killer of my resolutions?” You ask. Its last year’s bad habits holding you back from fulfilling your 2019 resolutions. Lets first define a habit. Merriam-Webster defines a habit as “A behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance.”
Chasing your resolutions while holding on your bad habits is like driving in the rain with no windshield wipers. You’re blindly driving forward with the best intentions, all the while hoping you don’t smash into an obstacle. Hope simply isn’t enough to get you around the obstacles you have coming your way. My high school drivers ed teachers would be proud of me informing you all that you’re going to crash without your windshield wipers, it’s literally inevitable.
UNLESS you pull over, snap on those new windshield wipers, and get back on the road to your resolution! Getting out those windshield wipers are equivalent to addressing all the bad habits that are going to get in your way and fully embracing them. They are silent killers, but they don’t have to be. Bad habits paralyze the best of us and make us feel like we are broken. Don’t let that silent killer slash your resolutions this year!