Resolutions or Affirmations?

I don’t really make New Year Resolutions. For the past 10 years or more I’ve had the same one; to travel to at least one new country each year. Needless to say, that didn’t happen in 2020! Since 2021 started, I’ve been thinking about resolutions.. and why most of them don’t stick.. and what the differences (or similarities) are between a resolution and an affirmation.

I prefer affirmations to resolutions. An affirmation is spoken like a fact, with conviction. It implies knowing that something is in my future, even though I may not know when, where, or even how.. but it’s coming. It's almost like a promise to my future-self.

An affirmation, to me, means setting an intention and being fully determined to put in the work. Yet there's an element of trust and surrender. Trust that the universe will guide me to achieve my objective, and surrender to the path that unfolds itself (with whatever twists and turns that come with it).

Resolutions sound much more rigid, and I believe that's why most of us falter (or worse, fail) at them. Resolutions don't leave provisions for obstacles and road blocks, and they don't make space for self-compassion. At the slightest setback we tend to lose momentum and give up.

I don't think you should throw your New Year Resolutions list out the window. Instead, I would invite you to re-write it from the perspective of your future-self. So "I will do XYZ" becomes "I have done" or "I am doing". In my experience, writing from this perspective immediately puts me in a better mood - and that helps me get through the work that I need to get done.

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Leave a comment below to let me know if you found this post helpful. If you disagree, let me know too! I'm always up for a debate :)

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