A new year is a wonderful thing – full of the promise of things to come . . . a perfect opportunity to start with a clean slate. This year is going to be better! I will [insert resolution here] and my life will improve!
Well I don’t know about you, but the only New Year’s Resolution I ever stuck to was to quit making New Year’s Resolutions.
If there’s one thing I have learned it’s that if you’re going to make a change, you have to do it.
Don’t plan for it. Don’t delay it until January 1st. And most importantly, don’t try – just do it.
One of the hardest things I ever did was try to give up smoking. I tried a few times and each time got harder. (I only tried once at New Year, though – I’m a fast learner, me!) But then, one arbitrary day in March a few years back I simply decided I did not want to smoke anymore and I haven’t touched a cigarette since. I don’t miss it one bit and I don’t know exactly how many years/months/weeks/days it is since I last had a smoke. I just made a decision and followed it through. The Nico-something mini-mints helped me get over the hump but after a couple of weeks I didn’t even need them anymore.
I’m not looking for applause – I’m trying to make a point. If you want to do something, you will.
If you want to stop smoking, then throw out the cigarettes and buy some help-you-stop mini-mints instead. If you keep wishing you could have a smoke, then you don’t really want to quit.
If you want to write a novel, then write a novel. Don’t try, just do. And do it now. After all, why wait until next year?
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