The new year is approaching us day by day and it’s a powerful time of reflection about the year that is coming to a close. It’s this time of year that people typically think about all the things they’ve been meaning to do, or those things they would like to do. You may have experienced taking the first few steps but then find yourself distracted or no longer motivated to continue through to completion.
When we think of something we want to do or would like to do, we get excited about the prospect of it. So when that excitement wears off and we lose our motivation and the recognition of what we haven’t done sinks in, what are the feelings that come up when this happens? One example might be disappointment…in yourself.
This is possibly because whatever it was that we set our minds on to do was negotiable, where we negotiate with ourselves about how much time it’s going to take and whether we have the time. Really it comes down to are we willing to make the time? It could be about available resources, whether internal or external. Or sometimes it’s about having required knowledge and then knowing where to get that information.
Sometimes all we have to do is just make it a non-negotiable commitment. Those who procrastinate about going to the gym, or writing that book, or finish that home project haven’t yet made those tasks non-negotiable in their conscious thinking mind. Most likely you are coming up with some good reasons not to do it where you can be coming up with all kinds of great reasons TO do it.
Stop arguing with yourself and start getting in alignment with who you are and what you really want for yourself. Do what you can to break that old habit of not completing things and create a new habit of not only checking those old things off your list, but also creating a new intentional list of things you’ll be excited to do.
Look at your to do list with eyes that are intelligently and diligently focused. This new way of being is an opportunity to make yourself proud and be an example to others as someone who does what they say you are going to do. A friend once said in a presentation she did, “do you want to be someone who does what she says, or someone who regrets not having even tried?”
The commitments you fulfill today are building blocks to your future ahead. By following through with your commitments, you are making them real by bringing them to fruition instead of something you are just talking about. Once you’ve done them, what is guaranteed is that feeling of satisfaction where you get to relive that excitement you had when you first thought of the idea in the first place.
Happy New Year!!!