This new year brings an onslaught of new things, like a new president of the United States, more movie sequels, a solar eclipse and a slew of New Year’s resolutions.
These resolutions, however, are not much more than a collection of hopeful words that we often fail to act upon. To ensure real change happens for you in 2017, a new mentality must predicate successful resolutions.
The mindset shift crucial to realizing any significant change in the new year is to focus on taking action.
Action is quite a broad term — as indicated by Mariam-Webster’s 10 separate definitions for the word — but when using it today, I am speaking of working toward change and facing problems head on. This is not only a key to success but critical to leading a happy, productive life.
Think back to how you’ve solved problems in the past. Someone else did not come into your life, tell you to relax and then proceed to rectify all your difficulties. Instead you held yourself accountable and took clearly defined action toward change.
Consider problems that are still plaguing you in 2017. For example, suppose you want to eat healthier. Have you taken steps like only keeping healthier foods in your home, or has your mindset simply been “I’ll start tomorrow”?
The answer, more likely than not, is that you have not given your best effort to act. You may have planned a road map to success or set mental notes of desired change, but without acting on these visions, you cannot achieve material progress towards your goals.
It is important to understand if you do not actively work to fix your issues, they will never be fixed.
While this sounds obvious, we often don’t act on our convictions — and the issue is getting worse. One indication is the nearly 45 percent, a 20-year high, of the voting eligible population that did not cast ballots in the 2016 presidential election.
Even with voting turnout seeing a record low for the past two decades, non-voters seem to be complaining about the election more than ever before. It’s a perfect example of inaction’s detrimental results. These people failed to vote and were left complaining about a problem they did not attempt to solve.
People frequently conceal inaction under the guise of empty excuses or being too busy.
In 2017 learn from the lessons of the whining non-voters and all others who fail to act. Realize that all change begins with action, not from complaining. Understand that excuses make succeeding impossible — so stop using them.
Taking accountability of your problems in the new year will not only make you better but inspire those around you to do the same.
Let us make positive change in 2017.
