Bye Bye Resolutions

George Bailey: I know what I’m gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that.

– It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Its more than a week into the new year. I wonder how many resolutions have resolved into oblivion and how many more are tottering on the edge. I myself have never indulged in resolutions. They always seemed like a fad. A new year resolution sounds like some short term fix and life doesn’t come by that easy. Why would anyone hang onto a new year resolution once the year becomes old?

However, I am a big fan of goals and having objectives in life. I prefer a more holistic approach, one where we take into consideration our whole being. It’s important to have a road map for your life, one that doesn’t change with years or seasons. That calls for long term plans and each year becomes a sort of milestone to evaluate progress and make changes. This post isn’t about goal settings and planning. I could tackle that in a different post. This post is about the different areas you need to consider when making your plans.

These areas are similar to wellness dimensions. Some say there are six and some nine. I have listed seven as I think these are the most concrete. Incidentally I also listed them in the order of importance, according to me.

1. Spiritual

This to me is the most important area. We are, at our core, spirits in humanly form. Death is but the inability of the body to carry on. It’s the body that dies, but the spirit will live on. I guess to a lot of people, this area of their lives will be the least important. The materialistic world and the abstractness of spirituality, compound matters. I still suggest a reconsideration.

2. Physical

The area that gets the most attention. Don’t make this all about your weight. It’s about healthy living. You need to look into what you eat and drink, the quantity and quality of your sleep and your “sweat” quotient.

3. Intellectual

A math professor once said, the happiest people in life are those who did well in mathematics. He then stressed, happiest and not necessarily the richest. His reasoning; excellence at solving math problems enabled one to later solve problems in life. My mother hated math. I can also tell you she isn’t a very good problem solver. Her approach to life’s problem is an emotional one and that simply doesn’t work. No matter how good a soul you are, you have got to use that grey matter between your shoulders to help you get through life. (Don’t get too down if you were bad at math)

4. Emotional

Understanding, accepting and managing the tunes and turmoil’s of the heart. In my opinion the most complex area to accomplish anything, because dealing with emotions needs intelligence. But the minute intelligence enters the picture, we could lose the emotion. You don’t want too much IQ and be left with no EQ.

5. Social

It’s a holistic approach, remember? Man is a social animal; they teach that at school. The circle starts with immediate family. Then grows wider and wider to include relatives, friends, neighbors, colleagues, strangers and so on.

6. Occupational

The attitude counts. Your work is an extension of yourself. Your job is going to take up a lot of your time. It becomes your duty to ensure that all those hours at your desk were worthwhile and fulfilling.

7. Financial

Personally, my weakest area. Money isn’t real. But it has become very important. Too much or too less of it, can both lead to evils. A financial planner will always tell you, begin with a goal in mind and then work towards it. Again you have that long term planning in the picture.

I haven’t really gone into details of how to evaluate and what goals you can set in these areas. I guess that will require a separate post on each of these areas. However, for now, this will serve as a primer to make one aware of the much larger picture about oneself. Give it some thought. Sticking to frilly new year resolutions isn’t going to cut it, because, its’ a wonderful life and there is going to be a next year and…