Don't Fret! New Years Resolutions Usually Get Done In Time

The Self-Empowered Woman: New Year’s Resolutions

by Marilyn Murray Willison

This is the time of year when we find ourselves reexamining the events of the past twelve months and the choices we have made during that time. In an effort to improve upon the past, December 31st is when millions of people around the world compose a well-meaning list of New Year’s Resolutions.

Most of us promise ourselves that we will become better people if we (the choice is up to you) eat less, exercise more, quit smoking, learn a new language, spend less, read better books, etc. You get the idea. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that it is far easier to make promises to ourselves than it is to keep them.

If you look at the last page of the January issue of “O” Magazine, you’ll see a full-page essay by Oprah Winfrey about her failure to keep her 2009 New Year’s Resolutions. Like so many of us, the willpower she possessed in January had evaporated by Valentine’s Day.

Oprah is one of the 68 women I profile in my new book, The Self-Empowered Woman, and I wasn’t at all surprised to read her “mea culpa” confession. After spending years researching the lives of accomplished females, the one thing I’ve learned for sure is that these extraordinary women—no matter how admirable their achievements may be—are riddled with failings of one sort or another. And much of their strength comes from knowing themselves well enough to openly acknowledge both their strengths and their weaknesses.

Unfortunately, I never had access to the New Year’s Resolution lists of the amazing women who have kept me occupied for decades. But in spite of my research roadblock, I’m sure that Self-Empowered Women know that a detour doesn’t have to be a dead end. Their failure to meet a goal one year didn’t mean that they stopped trying.

Learning how Mother Teresa fought for years to get her Missionaries of Charity order founded or how artist Louise Bourgeois earned the honor of having the “longest career any artist has ever enjoyed” taught me that great accomplishments—like successful New Year’s Resolutions—require endurance rather than speed.

Oprah (and I’m willing to bet that the same is true for the 237 other high-achieving women mentioned in my book) admitted that she had not met the goals she had set for herself the past year. But she promised that January 1st would usher in a new chance for her to get it right. That sort of “never say die” resolve is worth remembering whether we keep our New Year’s Resolutions the first time or not.

For more information about “The Self-Empowered Woman” go to YouTube and for more information about the author check out her website.