Dare to Dream

As January approaches and we bid another year adieu, our thoughts turn to making resolutions: this year I will lose that extra weight, drink less alcohol, give up sugar, and get out of debt. All worthy goals, but why do we perennially return to resolutions that seem based on the idea of fixing all the things we’re doing “wrong?”

You can’t know what resolution you need until you know what your objective is. 

And that is why I believe we’ve got it backwards when it comes to making New Year’s resolutions. Instead of starting January trying to “fix” all the wrongs, let’s take some time to figure out what our objectives really are.

So, dream.

While resolutions are about “shoulds,” dreaming is about hope — and it is only when we dream that we can hope to create something truly new, something that will overtake old habits, old customs, and old ways of thinking and being. And we all know by now that a disruptive path leads to a greater measure of success.

In other words, the more you know who you are, the less likely you are to procrastinate. And the more we dream ourselves into becoming who we want to be, the closer we’ll come to accomplishing our resolutions. I suspect that most of us have a desperate desire of our heart, something we may even deserve that we don’t or can’t have. When you take a moment to look at the “why” of a resolution, you may find the fierce desire that fuels it. And rather than procrastinating, or worse, chucking your resolve after a few days or weeks, this year you may actually see your resolutions through. You may even discover that some of your pesky wrongs have inadvertently been righted.

So spend January dreaming. Begin in February.