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Jay Rifenbary's Blog
Reframe Your New Year's Resolutions
New Year's resolutions predominately revolve
around the potential to benefit yourself. It is no wonder so many are never
fulfilled. Maintaining a level of motivation to persevere and be resilient is
always challenging when the only reason to succeed is you. Reframing your
desire to better yourself by being attentive to how it may benefit others is
key to maintaining the motivation to achieve. For example, initiating an
exercise regimen and sticking to it is never easy. To realize it may allow you
to have more energy, a better quality of life, and the opportunity to live
longer is certainly a motivation in itself. An added motivation to get out of
bed and go to the gym should be the example you set for your children, and
those who love you. Focusing on a healthier lifestyle not only assists you
to live longer and enjoy life’s experiences, but inspires those around you to
do the same.
I certainly want to have the opportunity to know my own
grandchildren and be a positive role model in their lives. I have a better
chance accomplishing that by being proactive with my medical care and
maintaining my health. My family
history for coronary heart disease is extensive, as noted by my fathers passing
at the age of 49. I was 11 when he passed, and throughout my life that
experience has required me to monitor my health. It certainly would be easier
to ignore the medical history, and go about doing what ever I want. The real
motivation for my determination is to be around for as long as I am able, not
only for my own family, but also for the opportunity to continue to make a
positive difference in the lives of others. Is it really the proper example for
those you influence by being over indulgent in what you eat, drink, buy, and
smoke? If I were 400 pounds because of my own lack of self-discipline and
self-respect, why would I expect my children to grow up any differently? That
example can apply to any excessive behavior that is damaging to ourselves, and
those around us.
Many behaviors that you determine need resolution stem from areas in your life that have initiated self-doubt and insecurity. What are you not taking responsibility for in your life that is generating that potential insecurity? Are the behaviors you exude complimenting the core values you believe in? If not, what steps are you taking to ensure your behaviors are congruent with your values. Excuses are the primary culprit for a lack of success in seeing your resolutions through to completion. We all stumble along the way, but it is imperative to monitor how influential the blame game becomes. To use outside forces to unilaterally determine your success is just an excuse. Although there are many elements that impact our decisions, how you maintain your health, finances, what you eat, what you buy and whom you associate with are ultimately your choices. Benjamin Franklin noted, “How few there are who have the courage to own their faults, or resolution enough to mend them.”
A resolution should be initiated prior to it
becoming a necessity. Don’t wait till you are unhealthy to become healthy.
Don’t wait till you are overweight to lose weight. Don’t wait till you are in
debt to get out of debt. Don’t wait to be in a dire situation to get out of
one. Be proactive in all you do. The English poet and novelist Thomas Hardy
stated, “A resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far
advanced as to make avoidance impossible.”
As the New Year approaches let us be mindful of why we make the resolutions we decide to implement. Initiating resolutions for only self-centered reasons are less likely to be accomplished. The motivation to succeed should not only rest in our own personal and professional goals, but the knowledge that we are also here to serve those around us. It is my desire to be the best for others, and in particular my family. That inspires me to strive for success each day. American author Hal Borland reflectively said, “Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” Happy 2012 to All!
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