Hey guys, so how was your New Year party? Enjoyed? Are you still in the after party
more, having a hangover with your dancing shoes still on? Or are you all charged up
and getting for 2019, hmm? I'm sure most of you have started planning your you're ahead
and made some awesome resolutions, the same way you did in 2018, 2017, 2016 and so on.
Getting a flashback guys, yes? Probably things like I want to lose weight, learn English
and become fluent in it, go for a trek and so many more things and I'm sure you have
planned everything in the right spirit and you had before and you had good intentions
of achieving them but somehow you lost your track and the resolutions failed. Do you want
to repeat that this year as well? Even in 2019 the same story is going to repeat and
I'm sure that you're going to fail in achieving your resolutions and you know why? Because
unknowingly you're making some very common mistakes which a lot of people make while
they plan their resolutions.
Today I'm going to talk to you about the most common tradition that comes with every New
Year, yes resolutions guys you must have seen so many videos out there telling us about
resolutions and motivating us towards them. Then we prepare a long list of resolutions
yet we always fail. By January end we have given up on them and by June we have forgotten
about them. But how about reverse engineering our learning process. Let us learn why our
resolutions fail instead and then learn how to fix this problem in a smart way. Let's
begin, so guys water resolutions first and foremost? Resolutions are nothing but goal
settings. They're firm decisions or promises to yourself to do or not to do something.
We usually have resolutions which like goals for instance, this year I would take a road
trip and we also have resolutions which fall in the not to do something category like a
bad habit, for instance this year I will quit smoking. Now guys no matter which type of
resolution we promise, the problem we are dealing with is why they fail. Let's see why
they fail and how we can fix it.
One of the major problems is that people fail because they are not able to prioritize their
resolutions and ‘they want it all and they want it now’ do you agree with me? Okay
guys so quickly grab a pen and a notepad for this, list down all your resolutions point
wise on the paper, right? So you'll have points like losing weight, buying a laptop, buying
an iPhone, cutting down on junk food, yeah? Eating healthy, taking a road trip, etc. Now
in front of each point just mark your degree of priority, so there are four degrees, ‘urgent,
high, medium and low’. When you start making these you will consider the urgent most priority
to be the one which is basically the need of the hour. Which if you do not do there
are more losses in the coming future. Now for example let's say I'm a graphic designer
and my laptop has started to give me trouble, so what would be my urgent most priority?
That would be buying a laptop. I can still survive with my current phone for basic necessities
and purposes. So I can mark iPhone as medium, then cutting down on junk food, urgent. My
road trip can just go to low priority for now. Now my priorities are clear, now I can
pick the urgent and high priority ones and start working on them to begin with there
you go.
Another major issue is the way we define the resolution. Most of the times I hear people
saying, I'm going to get a better job, I will get in get in better shape or I'll worry less.
Guys these are unclear and vague goals, because it's unclear what better means to you and
that is why it becomes difficult to plan steps towards a goal that is not clear in your own
head. So what do you have to do to fix this? Make your goal a smart one. Smart as in specific,
measurable, achievable, realistic or relevant and time-bound. For instance this year my
resolution is that I want to buy the new MacBook Air, right? Here I have specified my goal.
Now I take a look at the measurables, measurable elements are things like I will hear, see
or feel when I reach these goals. In this case my work quality will improve and I will
be more efficient if I buy MacBook Air. Now I see if it is achievable? Do I have the money
right now to buy it? Can I afford it? Then I can think realistically if MacBook Air is
the only option or there are other equally better options for me. After this I can put
a time limit on it and I can collect the money or resources by the end of next month. I'll
buy the same laptop or buy the next best one. Now when you work with a smart goal your focus
increases and you take small yet achievable decisions towards your resolution or goals.
One of the major issues is having unrealistic goals. Now I'm not saying that things are
impossible to achieve but what is necessary is to ask yourself that, is that, is that
my goal or is my goal relevant and all realistic? A sure way to reach your goals and dream is
to break them into smaller and surer steps. You want to become a stand-up comedian let's
say, realistically if you directly go to a pub and say I'd like to perform here, would
you give me a spot? They won't allow you unless they see your previous videos or skits or
followers on Instagram for example. So first become relevant to your own goal. So what
would you do? You'll start with small goals like, this month I'll prepare 5 stand-up scripts,
next month I'd make few videos at home itself and with these scripts the third month I do
a small in-house stand-up show with a family and friends and by year end I'll at least
bag one show at a well-known pub, now that's a vision and now that's reaching your goal.
What have I done? Simply broken down them into small and relevant, realistic goals.
Another common issue with resolutions is that, you didn't have the right mindset for it while
making a list. Probably you are not in a good place in your life while making the resolution
and in that state you took up more responsibilities at work, yeah? But because of your person
life being a little troubled, you'd, you couldn't keep up with the responsibilities and you
ended up smoking or drinking more often. So situation based or emotional resolutions do
have a tendency to fail because they lose their relevance when everything becomes merry
and good again or after that emotional moment you just, just sort of forget about them and
the resolution disappears in the thin air. So don't waste time on situational hasty and
emotional resolutions, do one thing write them down, the way we did and think about
them, analyze them when your mind is a bit more stable and calm, yeah?
Guys our last hurdle that comes between successfully achieving our resolutions is, ‘too much
thinking but not much doing’. Sometimes we just get too busy preparing the list of
our resolutions but we fail to start executing them so guys once you have the priority list
ready, just mark small goals on your calendar and set an alarm for it yeah, it works because
it's not just a goal or writing a resolution the question is how are you going to achieve
it? So these small goal tracking will help you keep a track and not let you ignore or
forget your target. So if you want six-pack abs then mark your weekly goals on calendar
and also try to mark the major goals right, like by Feb I should lose my fat, June I should
have four packs and by December I should have six packs by hook or crook. Another good trick,
I'll let you out, speak with your family or well-wishers and friends, they are the people
who will remind you by asking you your progress report on your goal very unconsciously. So
guys these constant reminders can be great motivators believe me.
Now my last point is guys don't wait for the 1st of January or any Monday, just start and
I'm sure this coming year you guys will do much better with your resolutions, so guys
do tell me what your resolutions or what resolutions you have made for this year and I sincerely
hope that these tricks will be useful to all you out there. That's all for the day guys,
here’s wishing you all happy holidays and all the best for the coming year, right? This
is me Meera signing off.