Billie’s Blog: Resolution Begin Agains
Half of 2026 is over. Did you make New Year’s resolutions or set intentions for the year with all the fervor you could muster? Did you choose a word to guide you through 2026? Are you wondering where the first six months of the year went? You may have given up on your resolution back in March. Well, perk up. Help is on the way. July is the perfect time for a check-in and reset. You are looking at only a six-month commitment rather than the entire year looming before you.
A lot of life may have happened since January that derailed your efforts. Perhaps you got bored, or the venture turned out to be more expensive or time-consuming than you thought. Many New Year’s resolutions fail because they are overly ambitious or poorly thought out. Summer months naturally lend themselves to activity. Rather than declaring your intention a lost cause, pull it out, dust it off, and smile. Perhaps with a bit of fine-tuning, you will be well on your way to your newly adjusted, more realistic goal.
The New Year seems the most logical time for people to commit to making major life changes. An entire year stretches before them as they envision their new, successful selves. The resolutions, goals, and intentions, often lofty and with little thought, can lead to trying out alluring methods touted on television, online, and suggested by family and friends. Some quick-fix methods are dangerous and quite harmful. So, people start fast and hit hard. For example, “I’m going to get up at 5 a.m. every morning and write 2,500 words, then get my day going.” The first day the writer does not meet the grueling goal, she or he gives up, declares herself or himself a failure, and tosses the manuscript in a drawer.
It does not have to be that way. A fresh approach may be all that is needed. Reframe your attitude. Revisit the reason the goal is important to you. Spend time with this and go beyond the surface, such as, “I want to be a New York Times bestselling author.” Keep asking yourself why it is important to get to the core of your intention. You may discover you do not want it after all, or that it has a deep spiritual meaning for you. How is this resolution a motivator for you? Do this exercise with love and care for yourself and for your goal.
Once you have identified all the parts of your intention, and what each part requires, you can organize them in a way that suits you—chronological, daily, weekly, monthly, in alphabetical order, numbered, lettered, at benchmarks. You are not locked into a specific structure, so you may begin with the middle, like writing a book, or mowing a lawn in a specific pattern. Some projects require chronological order, or Murphy’s law ensues.
Celebrating your progress is crucial to help buoy you when your cheering squad is on hiatus. Set specific benchmarks in advance and make them as flexible as possible in case life happens, and life will happen. You may find yourself in a constant state of flux as your life changes repeatedly. With planning, flexibility will become second nature to you before anything major occurs. Celebrate in ways that are safe for you and your plan—in all ways. You and your intention are worth it.
Some people feel discouraged because they cannot do the exercises or make the origami or bake the red velvet cake with perfection. Rather than seeking perfection, aim for excellence. The people in the videos and the classes have been doing what you are learning for a long time. They made their share of mistakes, felt tired or bored, distracted, and discouraged. They have taught many people like you who are just starting and eager to learn. Their passion kept their dream alive. Now, they exceed their original goals by leaps and bounds and create new ones as they go along. Practice, practice, practice.
July is an ideal time to dig out January resolutions, intentions, and goals and give them a second chance. You can look at them with fresh eyes and reconfigure them to suit your lifestyle. Sounds like a lot more fun, doesn’t it?
Billie Wade is a gregarious introvert whose primary interests are writing, lifelong learning, personal development, and how we all are affected by life’s vagaries.
Issues facing Black people, women, the LGBTQ community, and aging adults are of particular concern to her. She enjoys open-hearted dialogue with diverse people. The opinions expressed here are her own.