Turn resolutions into actions

The objectives/resolutions therefore contribute to the achievement of the broader goal. So the coming of a new year presents opportunities to better our lives.
It is a time to make a clean start, turn over a new leaf or revive our dreams with new impetus for greater things. Making resolutions for the New Year is like tradition. Usually the exercise takes off with much energy but that fizzles out gradually and soon the resolutions are left to gather dust in our minds. By the end of year most resolutions cannot be remembered at all.
One other reason that causes people to abort their brilliant ideas to better themselves is adversity. We crumble under the weight of adversity as it steals our hope. Joel Osteen, however, has brilliant advice to help people in such situations as he encourages them to consider bad things that happen as being done for us and not to us.
This means that there is something good that will come out of the stacks of pain. Looking at it this way changes the whole perspective on adversity as it takes away the victim mentality and influences the way we respond. Dear reader, I think you can identify with this. If you can, know you are not alone. Most people who make resolutions do not see them to the end. This year I failed dismally to follow through my resolutions because I can hardly remember any of them. Though I have forgotten the resolutions for the soon to be over year, I did learn quite a lot during the year about implementation of the commitments that I set out to do.
As I was working and developing this article my thoughts were reinforced by one of my old time favourite songs by Billy Ocean that was aired on radio. He says in this song “Out of my dreams and get into my car . . . Out of my mind and get into my life.” True isn’t it dreams or intentions are good but not good enough if they remain on paper or in the head. They have to be implemented to achieve the desired result.
There is an old adage that says “Muromo hauzarirwi nerwizi,” which means pronouncements come easy. Scripture also buttresses the same point with the famous words in the book of James chapter 2, “faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead.”
Generally, implementation of plans seems to be a problem bigger than the individual. Many times I have heard accusations about lack of implementation of great plans that are left to gather dust on the shelves. This really makes me wonder why great plans never get to see the light of day.
What and where is the problem? One thing that came to mind as I was trying to get to the root cause of this crippling problem was the issue of generalisations. I think that as a people we tend to generalise things too much, we are not very specific in many respects.
Think about this, when we talk about time most of us say “kuma 2” (around 2) we never say at 2pm. As Dr Nzenza said in one of her articles we have been socialised to tell time by looking at the sun.
So many times we put a message across to an individual or a few individuals by generalising because we are too polite or want to preserve the dignity of the person who has done something wrong. The Shona have an adage that says “kurovera nyoka musaga” literally translated to mean beating the snake in the sack.
As a result generalisation is an integral part of doing things. So when we come up with goals we tend to generalise. Such generalisations, I think tend, to influence the way we set our goals and objectives.
Furthermore, there is a tendency to make motherhood statements that cannot be translated into actions. For example someone can have a spiritual or social goal that says “handichadi kuita zvakashata” (I want to stop doing bad things). In my view unless you specify the bad things and identify the alternatives to replace them then you are starting on the wrong foot.
Being specific helps you to breakdown the resolution into actionable components with indicators and milestones. Specificity is important as it shows that you know what you want out of life. One can take a leaf from the biblical Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, who when asked by Jesus what he wanted was so clear and answered “I want to see.” So if it is stealing, procrastination or laziness that you want to put an end to then say so. If you want to develop self, career or relationships then be specific so you can answer the question on how you are going to do it.
What is also important is to have a few resolutions because too many of them can be overwhelming. Remember Rome was not built in a day. It is better to take a few things that are achievable than to bite too much that you cannot chew at all.
Resolutions that we craft are usually well-meant as they normally come from serious reflection or a nudge from within. Sharing the resolutions with an accountability partner for support changes the implementation landscape. Also each person should just learn to be a person of integrity and this starts at the personal level. Therefore one sure way of being a person of your word is to follow through what you have set your mind to achieve. As you set out to make resolutions for 2012 have time for reflection so that your resolutions, as my son says, are objectives that meet the SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic/Relevant and Time framed).
It is, however, important to know that success of all our plans come from God. As the book of Proverbs says, God determines the step and success comes from committing whatever you do to the Lord. So I would like to urge you to do likewise. If he changed water into wine he sure can turn your life around in ways that the world or even you cannot fathom.