New Year 🎉 resolutions are weird.

And they often get a bad rap.

So Weird

Here’s the weird part: a large chunk of humanity arbitrarily decides that because the earth 🌎 is at this certain spot relative to the sun 🌞 – it’s a special opportunity to start anew, pursue new goals, and create new possibilities.

Oh, and I almost forgot, there’s also this unspoken rule that if you mess up with your resolution anytime after January 1, the whole thing is RUINED and you’ve FAILED…and you can’t start again till the next new year.

Bad Rap

Then, because most people stumble on their resolution within a month, many of those who had recently been so resolute give up.

Critics shout, “SEE! Resolutions are NO GOOD!” 😡

Stand Back Up

Let’s pull it together here.

First of all, anything (arbitrary date on the calendar 📅, special stuffed animal, potato chip that bears the image of Elvis, etc) that motivates people to elevate their lives – is a good thing. Thumbs up to that. 👍

Second of all, if we mess up in January then suddenly everything is ruined? What's all THAT about? Because it's not about how many times we fall down. The thing that matters is: how many times we stand back up.

Get Small

What if we let ourselves get small? I mean, it’s not like the year is our only unit of time 🕑. If/when we stumble, we don’t have wait FOR A WHOLE YEAR

If you stumble on your new year resolution, focus on the new month.

If you stumble on your new month resolution, focus on the new week.

If you stumble on your new week resolution, focus on the new day.

If you stumble on your new day resolution, focus on the new hour.

If you stumble on your new hour resolution, focus on the new minute.

If you stumble on your new minute resolution, focus on the new second.

If keeping a great big year-long resolution is tough, start as small as you need, whenever you want, build from there, and know it’s never ruined. The opportunity to start again in the next second, minute, hour, day, week, or month is always available to you.

Happy New Year! Eric