“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” – J.P. Morgan

The word “fail” means that you were unsuccessful in achieving one’s goal. But there is another meaning to the word “fail”, and that is neglecting to do something. Sometimes we fail because we are afraid of failure. Meaning simply, that we neglect to do something because we are scared of being unsuccessful.

Goals can be hard. Mainly because our goals are sometimes something we want intensely but are terrified that we will never achieve. It is always easy to dream, and that’s part of what we do when we determine our resolutions for the New Year. We allow ourselves to dream.

But then we fail because we never actually try.

Today, I read an awesome response on reddit (instead of looking at animal pics and memes) by /u/yikes_itsme. And truly, this response is something I think many of us struggle with. Often times, we see an impossible mountain, one that is overwhelming, something we couldn’t possibly climb or achieve. And with that, we give up. We don’t even try. Or maybe we do try, but we take on too much all at once, which leads us to becoming overwhelmed and we give up.

I hope you all will take a moment to read this response. If you don’t have time, I’ll try to make it short and sweet.

1)     Find something special that you love that is just for you. Don’t share it with anyone. Just make it one thing that satisfies you. Do that thing that you love so you have that moment of serene solitude.

2)     Break down your goals/problems, whatever, into bite size pieces. Things that you can complete every single day. If you want to lose 100lbs, start first with something small. Maybe it’s changing the way you eat. Break that down. Maybe you eat out 3 x a week. Change that to 2 x a week. Small steps will get you to progress if you stick with it. Make a plan. (I personally love this. I have a checklist mentality and enjoy being able to make lists and check off the little items to see how much I’ve accomplished. It also helps me remember).

3)     Do what makes you happy. You can always revisit these steps and goals. They aren’t set in stone. The main objective is to enjoy your life.

So as you think of your resolutions or goals as the New Year approaches, dream BIG and plan SMALL. Avoid just thinking about that one yearly goal, and break it down into doable daily, weekly, and monthly goals. And find something, no matter what it is, that is just yours. Something you love that will satisfy you.