The #1 Single Biggest Mistake People Make on January 1st

Written by Tony Mase
Posted: December 31, 2008

Of all the mistakes you could possibly make on January 1st, there’s one that stands head-and-shoulders above the rest.

Make this one single mistake, and this one mistake alone, come January 1st, and you can pretty much “write-off” the rest of the year.

What is it?

I’m glad you asked. :-)

Here it is:

Making New Year’s resolutions.

Plain and simple.

Now…

What’s wrong with making New Year’s resolutions, you ask?

Good question.

See if any of this sounds familiar…

Every year, right around this time of year, millions upon millions of people sit down and make a list of *all* the things they’re going to start or stop doing beginning January 1st to change their lives.

Their “laundry lists” usually go something like this…

Starting January 1st, I’m going to:

1. Stop smoking.

2. Stop drinking.

3. Eat better.

4. Lose weight.

5. Start exercising.

6. Work harder.

7. Save money.

8. Get out of debt.

9. Stop arguing with my spouse.

10. Stop yelling at my kids.

11. Spend more time with my family.

12. Read more.

13. Watch TV less.

14. Stop swearing.

15. Stop kicking my dog.

16. Blah…

17. Blah…

18. Blah!

Then…

With the absolute best of intentions…

Come the morning of January 1st…

They hit the ground running…

And…

Usually by noon…

More often than not…

What happens?

You got it…

Crushed by the overwhelming weight of their newly created self-imposed burdens they…

Implode…

Or…

Explode…

As the case may be…

And are left once again to utter those immortal words…

“Well, I guess I’ll try again next year”…

Starting yet another new year off with a great big colossal failure to add to their ever growing pile.

Don’t let that be you…

Don’t set yourself up for failure!

Personally…

Other than its being a holiday, I don’t treat January 1st any differently than I do any other day of the year and I certainly don’t use it, nor any other day of the year for that matter, to put myself under the intense pressure of a self-imposed deadline to begin or stop doing something that I might want to change in my life.

In other words…

I don’t set myself up to fail.

If there’s something I *really* want to change in my life and it’s in alignment with what’s *truly* important to me, regardless of what it is, I simply incorporate it, without any time references or restrictions whatsoever, into my “vision”, imagine it as an already accomplished reality, *my* reality, and allow myself to “grow into it”, so to speak, as the time is right for it to happen.

And…

That’s *exactly* what I recommend you do as well!

With that sage piece of advice…

Once again…

I wish you and your loved ones the absolute best of holiday seasons and a wealthy, healthy, successful, and happy New Year!

—–

This article was written by Tony Mase, a serious student of the works of Wallace D. Wattles and the publisher of the “A Powerful Life: The Lost Writings of Wallace D. Wattles” ebook by Wallace D. Wattles…

—–

“A Powerful Life: The Lost Writings of Wallace D. Wattles”

“Abundance” by Wallace D. Wattles together with twenty-four
other rare books and articles written by Wallace D. Wattles.
Click Here => http://creatingabetterlife.net/go/PowerfulLife/

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Good Vibe Coach December 31, 2008 at 12:15 pm

Nice post, Lyman!

Did you submit this to Ellie’s LOA Carnival contest? This is a great LOA approach to the new year!

Jeannette

tom December 31, 2008 at 3:40 pm

Excellent article, I talked about a similar thing on my blog.

People limit themselves to change their life because of these time frames. Essentially this means nothing because why are you wishing people a happy new?

Nothing changes on January 1st or 2nd, only the date.

Lyman Reed December 31, 2008 at 6:27 pm

Hi Jeannette, and Happy New Year (almost) Happy New Year!

Actually, I didn’t write this one… but it does have quite the LOA ring to it:

“If there’s something I *really* want to change in my life and it’s in alignment with what’s *truly* important to me, regardless of what it is, I simply incorporate it, without any time references or restrictions whatsoever, into my “vision”, imagine it as an already accomplished reality, *my* reality, and allow myself to “grow into it”, so to speak, as the time is right for it to happen.”

I just thought that bore repeating. :)

I’m glad (and I’m sure Tony is glad) that you liked the article.

Ian Peatey January 2, 2009 at 8:59 am

Oh yes!

Dates are similar to geographic borders … some actually represent an important change (eg dates – summer or winter solstice / geography – coast line) but most are artificial inventions of mankind. The trick is to distinguish the few that mean something from the mass that mean nothing at all.

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