Hindsight is 2020
If you are feeling stuck making a new year’s resolution this year, maybe it would be better to pause and take a look backwards. Sometimes, noticing the blessings in the past can help better prepare us for the future.
There's been a lot of hesitancy to make new year's resolutions this year because 2020 was kind of difficult. So, a lot of the resolutions that were made last year did not pan out the way that people thought that they would and now it's causing a little bit of uncertainty, lack of confidence, and there's just some fear in deciding what a new what could be a new year's resolution for this coming year. I think a lot of people felt like the rug kind of got pulled out from underneath them. For example, people who made resolutions to go to the gym three days a week obviously were not able to because gyms closed. Their new year's resolutions kind of got derailed. And this year we're noticing that there are a lot of people who are feeling hesitant to make those new year's resolutions because of the fact that their previous goals were not met, or at least postponed.
So, since there's really no deadline to set a goal. You can make a resolution or set yourself up with any kind of a goal at any point in time. I mean, it could be the middle of July and you can set yourself up with a goal. Goals aren’t only able to be set in January. Regardless of when you set it up, it’s going to take you a certain amount of time to get to your achievement anyhow.
So here’s what I’m thinking is best, if this is something with which you are struggling or feeling some kind of hesitancy. Instead of trying to force yourself to make a resolution now, I would challenge you to just take a look back to 2020. Rather than focusing on the things that went wrong or the things that didn't pan out the way that you wanted them to, I would recommend finding the blessings that 2020 brought to you. Find the highlights. Find the things that did go right. Maybe you got to spend more time with your family or maybe, even though you lost your job, it made an opportunity available to you that you wouldn't have otherwise had.
Think about it like this. Think about driving a car. Most of the time you're obviously looking at the road ahead of you. But every once in a while, you need to look in your rearview mirror to make sure that nobody's speeding up on you, and that you don't have to avoid something. You want to be able to look in your rearview mirror occasionally, to set yourself up for the road ahead.
So, with that in mind, it could be beneficial to do that with our new year's resolutions. Take a moment to pause. Look back at 2020. And instead of just seeing a dumpster fire year, try to see the good. Find the things that you learned about yourself, about others, about your family, about work. Lean into the times you found strength in 2020. See the highlight reel - the good things - the graduations - the weddings - any events that were actually uplifting and encouraging. Make sure that you're giving 2020 some credit.
Many of us are trying so hard to make 2021 so much better than 2020…maybe even the best year ever! That is a lot of pressure. When, in retrospect, 2020 had its good stuff too. So rather than pressuring yourself to make those goals, so that 2021 blows 2020 (and every other year) clear out of the water…just pause…look in your rearview mirror. Find those blessings. Find the good stuff. Focus on that. That will actually help better prepare you for the road ahead.
Just a little tip from me.
