Heading into the New Year

 Todays blog post will be about what feel about the concept of new years resolutions, and how that concept may help or hinder individuals.  There are many ways that people have done their new years resolutions.  Just in the circle of people that I know, such as family, friends, and acquaintances, new years resolutions have been a relatively good thing - so long as they are planned right.  These resolutions can also be a bad thing if there isn't meticulous planning on how to accomplish said resolution, it also helps a lot if the goal is actually feasible.  I have had some good goals and some bad ones.  A personal example of a bad goal that didn't exactly go as planned would be this:

A few years ago I had to write a rough draft of a book that I was hoping to publish as one of my lifetime goals - something that I considered to be rather admirable.  The trouble was that I had no system in place for accountability, progress, deadlines, or even short term rewards to assist with the progress.  This was one of the new years resolutions that I made and then promptly failed to fulfill because I had no feasible execution plan. 

A personal example of a good goal that actually came to fruition would be this:

        A few years ago I had a goal to improve my walking capabilities.  As someone with cerebral palsy, this is extremely difficult and many persons with my disability fail to improve in this specific category.  In some ways this will continue to be an ongoing goal for the rest of my life  - since the effects of cerebral palsy will always affect me.  However, I have progressed significantly in my goal over the past year.  This was due to the system that I have in place that enables me to hit more milestones on the road to being able to improve.  

I don't know what goals you may have nor what challenges you may have either right now or down the road, but the important thing to remember is this; no matter what your challenges are there is a sphere of things in which you can control and there is a sphere of things that you cannot control.  I encourage everybody, heading into 2024, to do what they can and choose a goal that resides within the sphere of control in your life.  Make sure to avoid setting a goal for yourself that isn't realistic, where you wont be able to accomplish by yourself, whether because of time constraints, will power, or a lack of ability. 

If you or I choose goals that we know we can achieve, such goals will give us courage for the future, and allow us the willpower to work over time.  This works even when challenges outside of our control happen to us.  This isn't easy, and I'm definitely not perfect, and so I consider this a permanent new years resolution that will never go away for me.  Overall this has helped me, and I've been able to achieve things that I never thought was possible for me to do. 

I invite you, whatever your situation may be, to look forward to 2024 with positivity and determination to meet the goals that youve set for yourself.