The reason I don't do New Year resolutions

Every year, within the first two weeks of January, people tend to make a list of all the things they want to change or accomplish in the new year. On average, 25% of the plans are scrapped by March, and an astonishing 80% fail altogether. I used to be part of the 80%, but I don’t make New Year resolutions any more. And there’s a great explanation for it.

The sort version of this is the year 2020. Last year, I decided to make a fancy, not-a-new-year-resolution resolution, listing all the things that I wanted to accomplish by the end of December. I even asked you to hold me accountable to it. I got nowhere near that list apart from donating money to a charity of my choosing. My plans got pretty much scrapped by the end of February when I found myself out of job, while COVID held us prisoners in our own homes.

The longer version involves me never having long terms goals. Not that I don’t have dreams or a mission in life that I want to achieve, it’s just that I don’t believe in those “where do you see your self in five years” type of questions. Don’t get me wrong, I know what I want to be in life. It’s just that I don’t know if these dreams will happen in 5-10-20 years from now. They could happen before then, or well after.

But most importantly, I don’t really know what life holds for me. Like 2020, you can wake up one day and your entire life can be pulled under your feet, leaving you unable to achieve your goals and check out the items you had on your list for that day. If life gives you lemons, and you continue to hold yourself accountable to the goals and timeframe you previously set for your self, you’ll end up punching yourself in the face even harder.

Change happens, plans get scrapped, goals reset. That’s life. Let me give you an example. A while back I said that I wanted to be married by 30, have kids by 32 and own a house with a garden by 35. Instead, I got married at 32, I don’t have kids yet and I still live on rent in an apartment. Have I failed? In terms of timeline, yes. In terms of overall life achievements, no. I’m getting there.

Here’s my life’s mission statement:

To become an example father, son, brother and husband, and a dependable leader who guides with respect, empathy, honesty and tenace, whom people turn to and rely upon and to deliver excellence and seek his strategic guidance.

How or when I achieve all of these, it’s irrelevant. I could end up taking a step back in one of these areas to help achieve something else if I feel the time is right. So when people ask me where I want to be in 5 years from now, I don’t know what to answer, because I don’t know what life holds tomorrow morning. It doesn’t make me shortsighted or uninspired, it just gives me the flexibility to choose paths and make more accurate decisions later on.

That’s the reason why I don’t do New Year resolutions.

Till next time…