~Welcome 2022~

Happy New Year y’all! This post is a little later than I had planned for, but I guess better late than never. I hope you had a great and safe New Year’s Eve. I stayed at home and watched the ball drop with my husband and three cats. Nothing exciting, but I do not enjoy large crowds because they make me extremely uncomfortable.

Most of us see the start of a new year as the “magical” time to make changes and transform into an entirely new person. It is something instilled in our mind and mostly due to social standards or views. Changes or improvements do not need to only happen once a year or at any specific time. This is something that we can decide to do or not do. Typically, the motivation we felt when we made our New Year’s resolution wears off fast, the following week we forget all about the resolution.

Whether or not you are looking forward to 2021 ending and ecstatic about the exciting opportunities 2022 has in store for us, it has arrived. Besides all the New Year’s festivities, we think about what our resolutions will be. We may have many passed resolutions we did not achieve. We may begin thinking about everything we feel we need to do, which adds too much pressure and can result in us giving up.

We can learn from the resolutions we made in previous years that did not stick or last through the year. I am hoping that 2022 will be a better year with many positive changes. I am going to share my thoughts on resolutions and some tips on how to follow through with our resolutions.

I am sitting here trying to make sense of how 2021 which was not a great year, passed by so incredibly fast. Of course, I am not complaining because I have been ready to put 2021 in my rearview mirror and NEVER look back. In addition, I also have a strong and tight hold on the hopes for better times in the future. I learned a very valuable lesson a long time ago, which was NEVER say something could not get any worse because things can always get worse. I obtained this knowledge the hard way which created frustration and a massive number of continual disappointments.

It is important to know who you are and what you want in life. There has been research done on the Self-Determination Theory. This theory indicates that feeling capable and competent when reaching our goals, is one of the most substantial reasons for success. Most successful individuals set goals according to their strengths and abilities. What this means is that even though our goals “should” be a challenge, they need to also be with our abilities. Too much pressure will only lead to failure, stead of success because we might not have evaluated things accurately.

Think about a person who says they want to lose 50 pounds within three months and another who says they want to eat healthily and lose 15 pounds in six months. Which one of these individuals and their goals is achievable? Which one of these makes the most sense and can be viewed as with enough effort can be achieved?

Once you set your goal, OWN it. The meaning behind our goals is the key aspect that keeps us pushing forward. Intrinsic goals are the goals that encourage human growth and make a difference in this world.

How many New Year’s resolutions have you made that were small and mild lifestyles changes? If we are being honest, most of the resolutions we have made in previous years ended up being long-term and intimidating. The intimidation fact and time it will take may cause us to give up. If we decide to make a massive resolution and know ahead of time it is going to take more than a few days to complete time and effort to accomplish, we might need to take a hard look and reevaluate. With the challenging resolutions, they might require us to break them down into smaller sections, so it is manageable and remains organized. The chance of success is much will increase massively!

Everything we do in life will include some type of obstacle. Although it might be difficult, we need to try to visualize the obstacles we may face before we even are confronted with the obstacle. This can help us to have a plan in place, so we will not be slowed down too much with achievement and pushing past all obstacles.

I think it is safe to say that everyone has failed with one of their New Year’s resolutions. I do think the two most important tips regarding New Year’s resolutions is if you are going to make one, be realistic and do not go over the top with things that will take months or years. The other key point in my mind is, we can make changes anytime during the year we see fit and we do not have to wait until a new year to start.

I normally do not share what my New Year’s Resolution is because it puts too much pressure on me. This year, I am going to share it because of how much it means to me, and plan to never give up on this. I always try to avoid confrontation because I loathe arguments and will avoid them as much as possible. However, there is going to be a slightly new me in 2022. When I am upset about something, instead of holding it inside to avoid unpleasant conversations with anyone, I am going to be very transparent and upfront with how I feel. I have already implemented this and so far, things are not getting too chaotic. This part kind of goes hand and hand with the first part, but if someone does not bring anything but negative into my life, they are going to have to be eliminated from my life because it is too emotionally draining. I am going to have to You do not have to share, but do you have a resolution for 2022?

Thank you for visiting my site today. Let us all hope that 2022 is going to be a better year than the past several. Hopefully, COVID will also go away, and we will not hear anything more about it. I hope you enjoyed what I have shared and I look forward to reading your comments, which I will respond to as quickly as I can.

Always, Alyssa