Some people believe that New Year's resolutions are stupid, a complete waste of energy because no one seems to live up to them. Besides, people seem to always set unrealistic goals for the new year. What makes any goal unrealistic? Can anyone meet a New Year's resolution in the new year?
Anything is possible when you put your mind to it. There is no unrealistic goals. With the right amount of work and effort, you can accomplish anything unless that goal is genuinely beyond your capability.
I personally don't think New Year's resolutions are a waste of time and effort, rather they have inspired me to work harder to accomplish more in the new year. However, I never took the idea of making a New Year's resolution seriously until three years ago.
On New Years Eve of 2008, I made a pledge to myself and to all of my family that I was going to complete my first novel, Day of Revenge by the end of February in 2009. Day of Revenge is a historical fiction book set in 1793 France at the height of the Reign of Terror. At the time, I had been working on this novel for three and a half years. I was determined to complete this project because I wanted to feel like I had genuinely accomplished something. That is the first New Year's resolution that I fulfilled, although it took me the entirety of 2009 to complete the editing.
I didn't make any New Year's resolutions for 2010, but my hope for that year was to get representation from a reputable literary agent, then land a good contract with one of the large, New York based publishers. That didn't happen the way I had imagined it would, but the editor at Inkwater Press expressed interest in Day of Revenge and offered me a contract. That happened in June of 2010.
The year 2010 was good in general, probably the best year in my young life. I got involved in Story Theatre as an actor and made new friends through that adventure. I also started the writing of my second novel, To be Maria, a contemporary YA book, something I actually hadn't anticipated writing after I completed Day of Revenge.
At the start of 2011, I wrote down everything that I planned to accomplish, then published it on my blog. While I didn't meet all of the New Year's resolutions I made for this year, I did accomplish one thing: the completion of To be Maria. That was at the top of my to-do list for 2011. My goal was to complete the final draft by the end of June. I missed that deadline by three months. I had completed the second draft at the end of May, but it took me until August to complete the editing and revisions.
For 2012, I have many things in mind that I want/hope to accomplish. A home for To be Maria is one of them, the completion of this book's sequel another. Yet, I also plan to get my big toe into the door of the magazine biz as a freelance writer. I've already recorded these resolutions for 2012 and with much prayer, hard work and perseverance, I believe that I can make these resolutions a reality.
I'm not the only person with big New Year's resolutions. There are millions of people who want to make 2012 their breakthrough year. We just have to believe that New Year's resolutions are not stupid. We can achieve goals if we put our minds to it and enough work into it.
When Deanna is not writing novels, she is writing for discounts.ca, a website that deals with promotional coupon codes.
I think New Year's resolutions can be a positive thing, but I do think many people find themselves disappointed because they don't set realistic goals. Also, they don't define the goal enough. The key is to be clear on what it is you want out of life. Also, don't wait until the New Year. If there is something you want to do, set a goal any time!
ReplyDeleteGreat insight, Karen. That is so true.
ReplyDelete