by beth king

Created on: December 10, 2009

Taking time to reassess your priorities, make changes and goals, is important to do periodically.  It’s good to step back and evaluate your life, goals and make changes in areas that need to be changed, but too often the time isn’t taken to do that.  New Years presents a unique opportunity to do this since it is a time of starting something new.  

Throughout our lives, we get stuck in the day to day rut of repeating the same behavior, even when we aren’t benefited from it.  It’s hard to pick a random day and say this is it, starting today changes will be made.  During the New Year and the days and weeks leading up to the holiday, our focus often shifts and we become reflective of the past year.  The very symbol of the holiday is rebirth, change and new opportunities.  

Sometimes all that is needed to make a change is taking the time, stepping back and reflecting on what your goals are and where you want your life to be heading.  With the change in the year, the symbolic nature of the holiday, this presents a perfect opportunity to do that. 

It doesn’t mean that you can’t re-assess your priorities any other time of year, in fact, anytime you are working towards bettering your life is good.  The problem is most of us are too busy with life and too immersed in our problems to take the time to step back and see where we are and where we are heading.  

The very act of setting goals can help us achieve them, when they are reasonable and reachable.  With the celebration of New Year and the entire holiday season, we are motivated to set new goals and with so many others doing the same thing, it becomes part of our culture.  

Sadly, most resolutions aren’t achieved and are given up on.  Perhaps that is because instead of taking the time to reflect, many people pick random goals and don’t do the work behind it.  To be successful, deep thought should be invested in to making changes and re-assessing your priorities.  They must be something that the individual wants, for themselves not others.    

So, while New Years is a perfect time for resolutions and re-assessing goals and priority, it’s still requires time and a plan.  The good news is that by just taking the time to review our life and direction, it is the first step to making changes.  The New Years holiday is the one time that we all are sharing the same event, out with the old and in with the new.

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