#RESOLVElutions: January is for Journaling

I guess it's too late to say Happy New Year (the general rule is two weeks right?) but I do wish you all the best for this year we're about to experience. 

I have never been really interested in making New Year's resolutions, partly because I've never been good at accomplishing them. I've been wanting to lose 10 - 20 pounds since I was 15 years old and finally achieved that for the first time (a few years ago) about a decade later. So, my track record isn't great. However, the thing with a new year's resolution is all the "hype" behind it. We create it because we think it's something we have to do; we have to outline these specific things because this will make our year better than the last. By the middle of the month of January, we give up / forget about / no longer care about / are not sticking to / have forgotten about those resolutions.

There was no better example of this than my experience in January 2016. I had joined a gym for the first time towards the end of 2015 and in the first week of January the gym was JAM PACKED. You had to schedule your arrival time precisely so you could use a treadmill or elliptical machine to get some cardio going. By the middle of the month, I had the machines to myself again. I always thought people were exaggerating when they said these things but having experienced it myself I guess they weren't lying. The gym was back to its usual membership after two weeks.

I have, for a number of reasons (including the ones stated above), resolved NOT TO MAKE RESOLUTIONS this year. I have however committed to strategic planning. 

I am going to hold myself accountable this year.

I am going to make small, attainable goals each month and work towards them so that by the end of the year I would have achieved something relatively substantial. Thus, the idea of the RESOLVElutions.I am going to write down a few things I would like to achieve every month (some of which will be ongoing activities) and then keep track of the progress in a journal. I know, I know it may sound a little corny but hear me out first.

Why a Journal?

In order to keep track of these monthly goals, I have bought a weekly / monthly planner and a journal. I write down the goals in the planner (not on my phone, I feel it's more concrete when it's in writing); then, I use the journal to keep track of my progress to achieving that/those goals. It allows you to not only keep track of progress but keep tabs on the obstacles, the hindrances, perhaps even the bad decisions you have made on the way to achieving those goals. Journaling is also useful as it provides the opportunity for you to look back at different points in your life and compare it to your current situation. At the end of the year you'll truly see how far you've come..

Why am I doing this?

Over the years I found I have had a lot of great ideas; I have had a lot of tings I wanted to do; a lot of things I wanted to learn; experiences I wanted to have; and after some reflection I realized I have no idea what held me back, what stopped me from achieving those goals and having those ideas come to life. I'm not getting an younger and I need to begin doing some of these things so my later life isn't riddled with regret. I want to be more in charge of my life and the path I am on rather than leaving things to chance. Having some sort of accountability this way will also help to make me more disciplined overall and discipline is never a bad thing (unless you;re a child  lol ). 

Keeping a journal can be hard, especially as an adult with so many other "real" responsibilities. However, you also have a responsibility to yourself : to achieve self-growth; to achieve personal development; to attain a sense of self-fulfillment; to accomplish your life's goals. 

#RESOLVElutions

For the rest of the year I'll be continuing this theme. Each month I'll focus on a different area of my life I want to improve and discuss that #RESOLVElution. 

I will also play around with SoundCloud as a possible option for podcast host and I will upload some audio there relating to this topic.

Let's RESOLVE  to find some SOLUTIONS  this year !!