I will write the first draft to a novel by the end of the year.
This is my 2017 New Years Resolution. I have made a resolution every year since around 2006. Usually they’re related to my school work; or lack of doing school work. And its almost statistical that I won’t follow through; there was one year that I followed through, and that was last year. The sad thing is, this isn’t a pattern I follow; many people who make resolutions don’t follow through. Now why is this? Well, I sat down and took a deeper look at a few reasons why, and suggested some ways to fix these issues.
First off, we make resolutions we know we will never be able to complete. People make these wild and crazy resolutions and try to do them, but they hardly succeed because the end goal is too far away. The most common resolution ever made is to lose weight; and it almost never happens.
The main reason this is true is because people throw out numbers like “I want to lose 25lbs this yea,r” or “I want to go down three pant sizes.” Now, these don’t seem like horribly difficult things, in reality they are, but they are things that will take the whole year and possibly take forever to show signs of anything actually happening. There are two ways you can combat this problem with resolutions. You can either make a resolution that is clearly attainable or you can record your progress so you can see results in real time. With my resolution I will see progress as I keep writing.
Secondly, we often go into these lofty resolutions alone. It is important for us to try and complete things on our own; however, sometimes we need that helping hand to push us to our goals. Now, make sure that these friends that you get to help you are good influences on your goal. You’ll never believe that you can accomplish your resolution if you have someone telling you that you never will. I have a friend who’s also an aspiring author who I am working with to make sure we keep each other on track with both of our resolutions.
Thirdly, sometimes when people make New Years resolutions they don’t create a good plan, or any plan at all, to accomplish these goals. Now this isn’t always true, or a bad thing; however, it does help. If you break your larger goal into smaller weekly goals you can see the progress and have milestones to look forward to throughout the year. With resolutions like mine it is a good idea to block out time to make sure your plan works. I, personally, will be setting aside daily goals and daily time slots dedicated just to writing.
With these three things combined, and many other things that could affect your resolution, you are doomed to not follow through. However, if you make sure your resolution is appropriate, have a helping hand, and plan well, you can make these goals a reality. I believe anyone can complete their resolution if they put in the work. Go out and make 2017 the best year for you and succeed in what you want.
Happy New Year!
