‘Why I’m leaving New Year Resolution in 2017’ -Temi Otedola

Sharing her reason of leaving New Year’s “Resolutions” in 2017 and focusing on ‘Intentions’ instead, Temi Otedola, daughter of Nigerian billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola, gave us an insight on what she plans to achieve in the new year.

According
to her, she took one hour to reflect on her achievements, failures,
lessons, and keep these in mind when considering what she would like to
change at the start of the new calendar.
Here’s what she wrote;

“Here
we go again. As I write this post on the final day of 2017, I think
back to what this year held and what I’m hoping for in 2018. At the end
of every year, I take about an hour or so looking back on my
achievements, failures, lessons, and keep these in mind when considering
what I would like to change at the start of the new calendar. But I
have also found the conventional narrative of total-life-transformation
at the start of every new year exhausting. A lot of us feel the pressure
to completely metamorphose our lives. “This will be the year I cut all
of the toxic people out of my life”, “this will be the year I loose 50
pounds”, “this will be the year I become financially independent”- the
list goes on and on. For this New Year, I’m putting these overarching
“resolutions” aside.
At the start of this year I made a list of
about 5 things I wanted to change. They were the traditionally vague
“resolutions”, and although 2017 was a crucial year for me, I can’t
honestly say that many of these goals were wholly achieved. As I began
to write this post, I also began to seriously question how useful
resolutions truly are in the conventional sense… What does the term
“resolution” even mean?

Resolution
noun

1. A firm decision to do or not to do something.“she kept her resolution not to see Anne any more”synonyms: intention, resolve, intent aim, aspiration, design, purpose, object, plan

I
mulled over this definition for a while. I’m all for positive thinking
and making decisive moves for greater outcomes, but the actual term
“resolution” still left me feeling rather uninspired.  Maybe
there’s something overtly binary about choosing “to do, or not to do
something”. The strict definition of “resolution” excludes
contemplation, gradual progress, and all the other characteristics that
make up the innate human flaws we face day to day. For example, if a
resolution I had for 2018 was to posses more patience when dealing with
others, it’s highly unlikely that I would be able to wake up
tomorrow, on the 1st of January, and suddenly be able to have absolute
patience in all situations. Wouldn’t it be more effective if we worked
on smaller steps towards overall self-improvement?
Therefore, I will not have any New Year’s resolutions this year, only New Year’s intentions.

Intention
noun

1. a thing intended; an aim or plan.“she was full of good intentions”
   synonyms: aim, purpose, intent, objective, object, goal target, end

There’s
something about the word “intention” that seems much more fitting in
facing the New Year. It’s a word loaded with potential, possibility, and
attainability. Instead of overwhelming my hopes for 2018 with enormous
statements that are daunting to tackle head on, I will set myself
smaller, more tangible goals that can be confronted on a weekly or even
daily basis. I truly believe that colossal, life-changing goals can be
achieved from a combination of smaller actions. So, for example if my
New Year’s intention was: “I want to run a marathon in 2018”, I wouldn’t
immediately try to run all 26 miles, instead I would gradually increase
the duration I run each week. Another example is if my New Year’s
intention was: “I want to be healthy in 2018”, I could cut-out fizzy
drinks in January, and then fast food in February. This method
consistently includes new objectives as the year goes on, and so your
continuously working towards an aim.
So, now it’s time to be completely honest with you. What are my 2018
intentions? You’ll see in the list below how specific I’m trying to be,
as these larger goals will be broken down daily or weekly into smaller
steps that I can start cultivating straight away.
So here it goes…

Temi’s 2018 Intentions
Start University deadlines in good time and get my degree!
Be more personal and thoughtful with jtofashion.com content (starting with this)
Declutter/donate any unloved belongings
Devote more time and attention to my family
Continue to ignore the naysayers and any negativity on social media
I
hope some of you will be inspired to join my newfound “intention”
movement, taking daily/weekly steps to reach a larger goal. Remember,
don’t let the New Year overwhelm, you got this, I got this, we all got
this! Whether you decide to stick with resolutions or have decided
tomorrow is a day just like any other, join me in starting 2018 on a
positive note, giving special attention to who you care for the most.
HAPPY NEW YEAR. Love, Temi.”