Your “Resolutions” ain’t gonna happen… unless…

At the stroke of midnight through an inebriated fog you declared this year things are gonna be different.

This year things are gonna change…

And then you said some BS list of resolutions.

The problem is you never though about what a resolution actually means…

res·o·lu·tion

[ˌrezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n]

NOUN

a firm decision to do or not to do something:

Now is that what you did… you made a firm decision.

Did you make a firm resolution to be debt free as you paid your tab with a visa.

Or did you resolve to lose weight while double dipping a chip?

See you didn’t make a real resolution.

I’m here to help.

Grab a piece of paper and a pen… I will wait.

I said I will wait… go get the paper and pen.

Oh, so your gonna be like that… ok… if you DID get the paper and pen, I would ask you to write at the top of the page “I would like to”

And then start listing everything you would like to do that would make your life better in some way.

Make the list…

Lose weight, fit into those old jeans, do a 20 second handstand or upside down sit-ups

Get debt free, pay off your student loan, go to Cuba, get a new car

Read more books, learn up close magic, plant an herb garden, learn to cook, … make that list…

And don’t stop until you run out of ideas, and once you do, add a dozen more.

Whew…. You would like to do a lot.

You are going to need another piece of paper… I’ll wait…

On this second page at the top write “I Want To”

Now look at that list of all the things you would Like to do…. You are capable of doing any of them… but there is a cost.

Maybe it’s money, maybe it’s time, but nothing great comes without effort, without determination, without resolve.

Look at that list and decide what you WANT to do.

If you would like to be debt free, then join the club… they are by the water cooler complaining about their visa bill as they drink their $4.00 coffee.

If you want to be debt free, you skipped Starbucks and brought a $0.70 KCup to the office and moved $3.3 from checking to Visa…

That Move alone done 5 days a week knocks $850 off of your principal, and it didn’t cost extra… but you had to give up Starbucks.

Everything has a price… you decide if you want to pay it.

If you would like to lose weight you you justify that it is okay to eat the samples at Costco since they are only small and the store is so big you are getting exercise just by shopping there.

If you WANT to lose weight you get up an hour earlier so you can walk for 40 minutes before breakfast

Can’t get up that early? Sure you can’t. Just go to bed earlier… it will only cost you an hour of Angry Birds or Facebook.

You can do anything you want to if you want it bad enough. If you are willing to do the work. If you are willing to pay the price.

So look at your pie in the sky wish list of like to’s and decide what you really want.

Write that on your other list.

Pick one… perhaps two but be real here

Then burn your “like to “ list because you aren’t going to do that anyway.

If you were honest and if you want it bad enough, now you’ve got a resolution.

Get to work.