New Year Resolutions

Persevering in our goals, working towards our dreams and resisting temptation until we achieve victory can be challenging. 

The best way to stay on track is to truly connect with your goal and to wholeheartedly want to make it a reality.  Ask yourself “Why EXACTLY do I want to achieve [whatever it is]?”, “How EXACTLY will my life, or the lives of others, improve when I achieve this goal?” and “How EXACTLY will I feel, when I’ve achieved it?”   

If you can become emotionally connected to these benefits and positive feelings it will be easier to keep steadily advancing towards your goal when you are tempted by short-term gains or immediate gratifications.  It may also be worthwhile breaking a very long-term goal into smaller steps, so that you can advance and track your progress as the weeks, months and, in some cases, years go by.  Even Shakyamuni knew he had to lead people to the supreme teaching of the Lotus Sutra by breaking the journey down into smaller more manageable steps that his followers could cope with.

By breaking bigger goals into smaller steps, emotionally connecting with the outcome, chanting and taking action based on our Buddha wisdom we should be able to overcome all temptations and realize that the hardships we face during this journey are a small price to pay for the great benefit of seeing actual proof in our lives.

If you do start to slide, or lose sight of your goal, though, don’t beat yourself up over it, but refocus your thoughts and try again.  Take heart from this recent encouragement from President Ikeda:

Some of you may have experienced setting yourself a target, but not being able to stick to it for long. I also understand this feeling well.
 
But even if you only manage to stick to something for a few days, that’s fine. When you challenge something even for three days, you’ll achieve three days’ worth of growth. You should feel good about yourself for having persevered in something for three days. There’s no need to feel bad about stopping after a few days; just keep starting over again. If you repeat that pattern 10 times, that makes a whole month!
 
Those who can keep refreshing their determination and trying again are most admirable. They are winners. The important thing is to continue challenging yourself with perseverance.  (from newsletter NL8689CE)

See also:

"The Same As Last Year" (from 1st January 2014)

"Happy New Year 2015"  (from 1st January 2015)

"Ready, Willing & Able"  (from May 2012)