![As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”[3] Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.](https://www.choosingwisdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ChoicesForChange.jpg)
New beginnings and fresh starts. There is something about the clean slate of a new year that causes most to reflect on the past and determine what choices for change we would like to make in the year ahead. We make resolutions as a way to motivate ourselves, but statistics show that only 8% of us feel successful by the end of the year. We seem to be missing an important link between setting a resolution and actually accomplishing it.
Often our list is a culmination of things we want to do, but a “specific, measurable, time-bound goal drives behavior that’s narrowly focused and often leads to either cheating or myopia.”[1] It is easy to set unrealistic or overzealous goals. Without a clear purpose, goals can become nothing more than a weight and burden.
For example, last year a friend of ours set a goal to ride 6,000 miles on his road bike. His purpose was nothing more than to prove that he could do it. As he set out with a laser-focused pace to accomplish his goal, he felt like he had a purpose. But somewhere around 4,000 miles, his purpose lost its meaning. His joy and love for riding became hampered with the chore of finishing his goal. By the end of the year, he had completed his goal but was also burnt out on riding. This kind of burnout leads me to ask the question: What is the purpose behind all of our new year’s resolutions anyway? Do we set goals just because it has become the traditional thing to do at the end of the year – or do we desire to become a better person?
![As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”[3] Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.](https://www.choosingwisdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/change-300x172.jpg)
As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” (Henry David Thoreau) Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.
For the last 4 months, I’ve been considering my own list of changes. I’ve included them below to help get your creative juices flowing. These 12 choices for change will be part of a monthly series. I look forward to the new year and the choices it brings for all of us.
12 Choices for Change:
1. January: Believe.
“In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.” ~Nikos Kazantzakis
![As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”[3] Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.](https://www.choosingwisdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/believe-quote-2-300x300.jpg)
2. February: Dare NOT to compare.
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.” ~Lao Tzu
![As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”[3] Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.](https://www.choosingwisdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/compare-quote-300x300.jpg)
3. March: Be fiercely loyal.
“One of the things that make me who I am is the loyalty I have to people I hold close to my heart.” ~Simone Elkeles
4. April: Practice Kindness.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~Mark Twain
5. May: Decide to be fearless.
“Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure.” ~Jack Lemmon
6. June: Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
“We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.” ~Thomas S. Monson
7. July: Be present.
“Be intent upon the perfection of the present day.” ~William Law
8. August: Give second chances.
“Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning.” ~Desmond Tutu
9. September: Take up a new hobby.
“Hobbies are good for your mind and your body.” ~Dani DiPirro
10. October: Choose joy.
“We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” ~Khalil Gibran
11. November: Persevere in patience.
“Patience is not just about waiting for something…it’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting.” ~Joyce Meyer
12. December: Develop courageous strength.
“Work hard for what you want because it won’t come to you without a fight. You have to be strong and courageous and know that you can do anything you put your mind to.” ~Leah LaBelle
![As a young teen, I was taught to begin with the end in mind. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”[3] Our goals and resolutions should reflect the type of person we are working on becoming. Rather than the typical motivations, consider your desires. Desire goes beyond just wanting to make something happen, it is a deep commitment or determination to act. Select one new desirable habit, virtue or characteristic. Don’t go overboard – but find something to focus on that matters to you.](https://www.choosingwisdom.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/choices-for-change-1.jpg)
Resources
[1] Williams, Ray. Psychology Today.com. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.
17 thoughts on “Choices for Change”
I like how all of these goals are about becoming better as a person and not focused on things like dieting and exercising. When we work on the goals that will develop us as a person, the other goals become so much easier! #Wanderingwednesday
Exactly Christine! Thanks for the comment!
This is awesome! I love the Dare NOT to compare. With all of the social media and blogging world its very easy to start comparing yourself and your life to others. Never a good thing!
So true! When we allow ourselves to believe the stories the world tells us they are never accurate!
I love how you broke it down by months – and I love that sentence about your goals. It’s not about achieving them, but what you become through that. I had never heard that before, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. I think more people should go in with that mindset. It might make all the difference!
Thanks Larissa!
Oh wow, my mantra lately has been “If you can believe it, you can achieve it”, so I LOVE that’s what you chose for January!! I’m going to bookmark this for later so I can come back and reference it throughout the year. x
Kate
http://www.thegoldsister.com
You’re mantra goes right alone with January! Thanks!
“what you get by accomplishing your goals is not as important as what you BECOME by achieving your goal” very well put! this sunk in really deep as I have been focusing on the process and the growth in between on my journey to.my goals. thanks for sharing.
I love the idea of your journey in reaching your goals. It’s all about enjoying the process. Thanks for the comment.
This is great! I love the idea of choosing a quote/word to live by each month. I want to change my body by making it stronger, and change my attitude to more of a kind heart
What a great attitude for change! Making our body stronger and our heart a little kinder are great changes to think about for the year!
I love that list and could definitely use work on all of them. I like setting goals every year, but I’ve been trying to be better about thinking about the reason behind them and how they can help in the long run.
Having a “Why” behind our goals is the best way to insure success! Doing something just for the sake of doing it will get us nowhere. Thanks for stopping by!
I love these. I have never liked the idea of resolutions for a YEAR because I find I need to make changes and adjust my focus more often than that. I love the monthly ideas as choices for change!
Thanks, Jennifer!
I love these choices that we can choose to make a positive change in our lives.