Just few
more days left before we step in to the next year hoping that we can do better
and achieve our dreams and goals that are still in the lineup. Now, since I
work as a freelance writer, I usually get lot of writing projects about New
Year resolutions. Obviously, there are millions that make resolutions during
this time of the year. Some complete it; some forget it by the end of January
itself as they dragged into all the fuss and tension that life throws at them.
I personally never do that, I never really go for resolutions or any such
thing. Not because I cannot keep up with it or do not have the ability to
fulfill it, but because I do it throughout the year.
As a kid, I
learnt a lot from what my parents used to teach me. The values and education that
they imparted is something that I still use in my daily life, but after they
passed away I was very much on my own, still in my early teens. I had a lot to
learn and understand about the world and beyond. I was drawn by everything that
was different and unique. One fine day, I was drawn by a movie poster on my way
back to home and school. The movie poster had a tag line – “It takes courage to
stand alone.” Indians who are curious to know what movie poster was that – it
was a movie poster of Ghulam with Aamir Khan smoking his cigarette. Anyways,
when I first saw that poster something hit me. I wanted to be different; I
wanted to stand out of the crowd. I wanted to stand alone, do what I felt was right;
say what I felt was true and feel no burden on my soul. That feeling eventually
grew in me and if I begin to tell you personal stories about my life, you will
know I have done things differently. To few of my friends, who have been a part
of my life for more than a decade, I am an inspiration because they believe I
go to great lengths to achieve my targets and practically stop at nothing. However,
they've never asked me where I get inspiration from to do these things that
they believe impossible.
So, why am
I suddenly telling you all this? Well, that’s because it’s the time of the year
when people will make resolutions, but they never really know what kills their
spirit to continue and complete those resolutions.
Most people
that make resolutions and do not work on it only make resolutions because they
want to flow with the trend. Often, we make a list of resolutions. I will do
this, I will do that, I will quit smoking, eat healthy and blah blah blah..the
list never ends. What happens eventually is that we are loaded with too many
things to handle at the same time. The result is that we achieve nothing from
it. I've also read many self-help books that give you tips on how to achieve
your goals step by step. I don’t really follow all that, because the scenarios
given in the book is not the life we are leading. No one in this world is
living my life, except me. It might be similar, but not the same as mine.
If you have
been trying over and over to do something and if that’s not working, it means
you need to do it differently the next time, so you get a different result. How
to do it is something that you have to figure it out based on your life
scenarios. If you notice people around you will notice that we all ARE
DIFFERENT, but we WANT TO BE LIKE SOMEONE. We see our friends doing better than
us in terms of career, finance and many other things and we say to
ourselves..Oh! I wish I could be like him or her. This is generally termed as
inspiration. People inspire from each other. However, that inspiration
sometimes does bring in some disappointments as well. It’s human nature. We
like to be in the spotlight. We want to be heard and loved and we want to
SUCCEED. And when our friends race ahead, we also feel that nasty sting right
inside our heart, don’t we? A feeling of being left out and left behind.
Imagine the
plight of an obese man trying his heart out to get slim while others around him
healthy and hearty and fit as ever. The plight gets worse not because he is not
trying, because he is constantly comparing himself with other healthy people
around. The focus of that man moves from working on his health to something
else, and his impatience grows, amplifying his disappointments even further.
Soon, his resolutions to stay fit and slim goes out of the window.
Hence, when
you make resolutions or any commitments you have to keep complete control on
your thought process. You need to protect your commitments and ensure that you
work on it. For instance, you saw a martial arts movie and you decided to learn
martial arts. You got yourself a membership for the training, but after a few
days that enthusiasm fizzles out because you see your friends and colleagues
moving ahead in other sectors of life.
Concentrating
on multiple things is a good thing, but it requires practice. When you are
working on your resolution you should focus on how you can complete it
effectively, rather than worried about what others are doing with their commitments.
Even if they are doing pretty good and if you’re struggling you don’t have to
feel bad. We all have different pace and different situations to tackle, so you
need to focus on how you can reach your goals. Be patient and don't let the success of others be the reason for your failure.
So, this
year what are your resolutions? Feel free to share it with me.
