How to Stick to Your Resolutions

“All Beginnings are Hard,” we are told in the Talmud. But when we make New Year’s or other resolutions to loose weight, learn to play the cello, or write a novel, no. It seems the opposite. We can easily begin, but sticking to it is hard.

To begin is hard if we do it right. Then it gets easier.

How do you begin well? First, decide what you want. Then make room for it. Decide what it is more important than. We may have time for other things, but they will use up our determination, run down our emotional battery.

Say, if you want to become good at the piano, you may have time to practice at night and then fool around on the computer for a couple of hours. But after a few days or weeks, you somehow stop practicing.

If you decide to quiet your life first, with sleep, meditation, long baths, quality reading, tidying up your home, you may find that you actually did keep up the piano practice. I have been lucky to have three teachers over the years. One thing that each suggested was taking a walk, in nature if you can.

If you are trying to loose weight, it’s not just the not eating and exercise. Look at what is cluttering your life and clean it up. Can you let go of perhaps trashy romance books or constant telephoning? It can be anything, and sometimes when we get rid of one piece of life clutter, we replace it with another, like too much time on the internet or sitting down and finding someone to sit and complain with. Be careful.

In China, there lived one great man a couple thousand years ago, Lao Tzu. We have one very, very short book of his, that’s all. And much of it was probably added later by others. But one of the sentences he certainly wrote was this, “First, practice not doing, then everything will fall into place.” Stop doing clutter in your life and you will magically find the determination to keep going after the goals you set.

Today, more than ever, we need to unclutter our lives. Find that busy, frantic part of your life and replace it. Relaxing and order your live instead. Even putting the bills in order, vacuuming or not rushing with the grocery shopping is good.

The reason beginnings are hard is that we must find and clean out a thing or two to make room. And we are all addicted to our busyness. Compare yourself to the cat in this picture. She is enjoying the simple life.

Begin your amazing life. You don’t know where it will take you.