The Mayans were wrong—or perhaps the information they left us was misconstrued in some way and thus we were wrong.

Nevertheless, the world remains and we are now on week three of 2013. You no doubt made some New Year’s resolutions or perhaps you were a little flamboyant and quit your job on December 31st.

Now what?

First, you may want to take a look at your resolutions. What’s that? You didn’t write them down? Mistake number one. According to Dave Kohl, a professor at Virginia Tech,

“People who write down their goals earn nine times as much over their lifetimes as people who do not.”

What does this mean for you? If you write down your goal and have it in a place where you can see it every day (ideally your bathroom mirror or your dry erase board in the kitchen) you will be better at keeping your goal or at least actively engaged in trying to keep it.

If you don’t write it down—or at perhaps utilize an app on your smart phone that reminds you of it—you are more likely to forget all about it or worse deem it unreachable to achieve anyway.

Next you should question why you made the resolution that you did.

Was it a failed resolution from 2012, 2011, 2010? Why do you keep making the same resolutions?

Ask yourself what will be so different about the same goal this year. Having a plan of action is your best course of action when trying to keep your resolution for the long term. After all, saying I want to lose ten pounds by late spring is quite different than weighing ten pounds less when early June gets here.

Be realistic with yourself.

It’s easier and healthier to lose ten pounds by late spring than it is to lose 50 in that same time frame. At the end of the day, you have no one to impress but yourself. If you are trying to lose weight for any other reason than yourself, there’s a strong possibility that the extra weight you’ve been dying to ditch will not stay off.

What if your resolution has nothing to do with weight?

What if you want to pursue your dream career as a writer, actor or…politician?

Again, it all comes back to writing your goals down and coming up with a plan of action. Have you checked your local papers? Plenty of “mom and pop” shops are looking for freelance writers. Perhaps your writing will be a good fit for what they are looking for.

How about researching a writing class or acting lessons? If you took me seriously and are actually interested in politics, what was all the big fuss about concerning the Fiscal Cliff? Do you know? Inform and educate yourself on the path you want your life to take. Take action steps to get to where you’re trying to go.

Making a New Year’s resolution is no different than wishing on a star or blowing out the candles on your next birthday cake.

If your resolution was to quit smoking this year, are you still in the habit of buying your coffee and cigarettes at 7-Eleven each morning?

The point is, nothing in your life will change unless you are truly ready for it to do so.

It’s not enough to tell the universe what you want; the universe is watching to see what moves you will make so that it can begin to open doors and put the right people and opportunities in front of you.

Finally, if you did quit your job on December 31st, well…you know the place better than I do. Perhaps that was for the best.

Now you have free time to find more rewarding work—or better yet—you can write down your goals and action items thus finally making this the year that your resolutions become a beautiful reality!

Shaketa Copelin is a native of Washington, DC but now resides in Maryland. She has been in love with writing since the age of seven. She considers herself a very honest and passionate writer and poet. Shaketa juggles the roles of being a full time working mother and wife. Though she loves her nine to five job as a recruiter in human resources, it has always been her dream to share her writings with the world. Aside from the hundreds of poems and dozens of short stories she’s written, Shaketa is currently working on finishing her first novel.

 

 

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Ed: Bryonie Wise

Assistant Ed:  Terri Tremblett