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This post is part of the experiment that we are conducting this month, to properly plan and set our new year’s resolutions for the upcoming year, well in advance.

I know you might be all excited to set your new year’s resolutions. But before we go into that, we need to talk about Last Year’s (actually, This Year’s) Resolutions.

What has become of the resolutions that you had set at the beginning of this current year? How have you fared in keeping up with those resolutions?

Good question, isn’t it?
What’s your answer?

Not sure? Are you wondering how best you could answer it?

Let me try to help you with that.

Time to review your Last Year’s Resolutions

Answer the following questions:

1) How many resolutions did you have for this year?
2) What were those resolutions?
3) How many did you succeed at?
4) How many did you give up on?
5) How many are still in progress?

In the comments of the previous post, some of you have been frank enough to let me know that you have not made any new year’s resolutions for a few years now. The good news is that you do not have to answer the above questions,… at least not for the time being.

As for those of you who made some resolutions at the beginning of this year that’s about to come to an end, please take a moment to ponder upon and come up with answers to the above questions.

Just stop reading this post for now, and jot down your answers. Seriously, stop reading this post right here, right now, and write them down.

Are you done jotting them down?
Really? Okay, I trust you. (I have no other go)

Tell me, was it easy? Did you know exactly how many resolutions you had made, and what they were? Could you easily see where they stand as of now?

Did you have your resolutions written someplace where you could easily get access to them? Or did you just pull them out of memory? Did you have to scratch your head to recollect some of them, and did you feel that some of them might have even moved out of your radar?

Call for Action: The Exercise

I said above that I trust that you have answered the above questions. Well, actually I trust that you would have run through the post to catch the overall essence, and probably (hopefully) said, “Oh right, it would be nice to have a look at the resolutions that I had set at the beginning of this year”. After all, who would stop in the middle of a post, just because the author says so, and put one’s brain to work?

You see, we can keep on reading, keep on realizing, and keep on wondering.

However, we will never gain the true value of anything unless we act on it. Like I say, Action is The Master Key to Success. With that said, I would like you to take the following actions today:

1) If you don’t already have your current year’s “new year resolutions” in written form, write them down. Your memory has a lifespan of its own, so I strongly suggest that you write them down right now in a notebook. Few years down the line, you’ll be glad you did.

2) Then, for each of those resolutions do the following:

A) Note down all the Original Details that you can think of

Here are some examples of original details that you can note down:

• The resolution statements
• The strength of the feeling/passion you had towards it (Weak / Medium / Strong / Powerful)
• The then-perceived size of the resolution (Small, Medium, Big, Massive)
• Whether you had a plan of action for it
• Whether you had a vision statement corresponding to it
• The time duration you thought it would take
• The time effort (in hours) you thought it would take
• The date by which you planned to meet it
• Any other parameters that you can think about

B) Perform a quick analysis, and note down the Actual Details

Here are some examples of actual details that you can note down:

• The strength of the feeling/passion you have towards it today (Weak / Medium / Strong / Powerful)
• The now-perceived size of the resolution (Small, Medium, Big, Massive)
• The time duration that it really took (so far), and, if it is not yet completed, the time duration you think it would take hereafter too.
• The time effort (in hours) it actually took you, and, if it is still ongoing, the time effort you think it would take hereafter too
• The date by which you completed it, or, if it is still ongoing, the date by which you think it would be completed
• Approximate number of days (out of 365) that you actually worked on it
• The actuals corresponding to any other parameters that you could think about

C) Take time to ponder on the Original Details and the Actual Details

• Note down any feelings and realizations
• Separately, also note down any lessons you could derive from your analysis

Make this experiment fruitful, for yourself and for the community

In order to make this experiment successful, I would like you…

1) [Optional] Write a quick comment to let me know what you felt after reading this post.

2) [Compulsory] Take some time to perform the exercise mentioned above. If you do this, I guarantee that it will be a great step to achieve significant success in the upcoming year.

3) [Much Appreciated] Finally, after you have done the exercise, kindly come back and leave a comment to give the Secrets of Success community a little peek into the feelings, realizations and lessons that you noted down as part of the exercise.

A concluding note

Most of us do not like to spend time analyzing our past. There’s almost always a lack of time, and we only want to make the best use of it to move forward. Yet, it is as important to stop by and analyze your position as it is to move ahead.

Remember, whether you choose to stop by this checkpoint for a while, or care a damn and move on without stopping by to fuel up, the choice you make this very moment will decide the level of success you will [fail to] see in the upcoming year and thereafter.