What is the Lifespan of Your Resolution? - by Kalu Kalu Kalu

What is the Lifespan of Your Resolution? - by Kalu Kalu Kalu

We wish you a fruitful year ahead. This period lots of people around the world assess their life, taking note of their shortcomings, after which they will come up with resolutions on how they will live in the New Year.  Growing up, my father mandates me to write down my new year resolution, and throughout this period my level of seriousness will be at its peak and I will be intentional about my daily activities, the funny part of this story is that as we progress through the first month my level of seriousness begins to dwindle until I forget almost all my resolutions. 

The reason why this is so, is that I was motivated, but not disciplined. I see resolution as decisions and activities when carried out will help you build a better life. It is believed that the average span of your resolution is 17 days, and for me the reason for this short life span is that the motivation to accomplish it is not drawn from a passionate and a well thought-out vision or mission statement or idea. Which is why then I will write stuffs like: Read my Bible every day, Read one book every month, etc., these stuff where amazing and I did my best to do these activities, but lost enthusiasm as I year progressed. I don’t know if this is peculiar to me alone, but will like to share how I overcame it:

Firstly, I took out time to understand who I am, answering questions such as: what is my purpose, what are my strengths and weaknesses, where will I like to be in five years, who is currently living the kind of life I desire in future and what must I stop doing to achieve my purpose. These questions took me through the journey of self-discovery and I must confess the answers to these questions were not instantaneous neither were they easy to come by, they required me to talk to people not just anybody, but those that are close to me. I must confess even till now I still ask myself these questions because they help bring more clarity to my dreams. For me this was how I saw myself then:  “To inspire creativity, proffer solution and be a source of blessing to the lives of others no matter where I find myself”.

Secondly, draft out your vision for the year, this is a bold statement that must: cover every aspect of your life, be spiritually (morally) inclined, add value to others and align to your purpose. This is very important because it will be the source of your motivation, it will be what fuel that drives your life, and will make you see everyday as an opportunity. A popular adage says that “the future you don’t picture you don’t feature”, but my problem with this is that people justify their fantasies with this statement. Most resolutions that people make are mere fantasy, which is why they don’t last. Fantasies are wishful thinking while vision is a strong desire that motivates you to remain disciplined and focused to certain activities needed to achieve your dream.

Finally, set short term goals that must align with your vision, these goals must have the following characteristics:
Realistic: your goals must be sensible and achievable, it must not be vague. Often people set goals such as ‘I will read one book daily’ whereas this person have not cultivated a treading culture before now, which is why you must first understand yourself, know your current status and then set goals based on your current strength then you grow from there.

Specific: this is an important aspect of goal setting, the specificity of your goal is vital, because it helps you in measuring your growth. For example don’t set goals such as: I will read a chapter of a book today, instead say I will read a chapter of talent is not enough which is the book I am reading for the month. It also helps you remain focus to your vision.

Time bound: time is one resource that we don’t have in excess, it is very limited and should be used wisely. Your goal should have duration and if possible it can be stipulated. Carrying out this goal at a stipulated time can be quite hard, but the idea is that before that day runs out it must be done.
In conclusion, I wish that above all things that you live a very productive life this year, and this can’t be achieved by making resolution that isn’t inspired from your purpose in life. Consistency is the means by which you measure growth. 

Be Consistent!!!