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Evaluating Your Success, Not Your Failure – Cross-posted at BlogHer.com

If you made a New Year’s resolution, you’ve now had a couple of weeks to work on it.  How are you making out?  Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed?  Don’t answer yet.

My New Year’s resolution included eating healthy, but today my daughter made chocolate chip cookies and I had several of them (they were super yummy too).  Some might say that by eating those cookies, I’ve failed at my resolution.  Have I?  What really matters though, is how I perceive it.  If I perceive eating cookies as a failure, then it was.  However, I choose to not see it as a failure.  I’ve learned from years of dieting that I am less likely to be successful if I’m too strict with myself.  So instead, I remind myself of all the days that I did make healthy food choices, and that I can still continue to make healthy food choices tomorrow.

We’ve all heard that most people will fail at their New Year’s resolution.  In fact, many people will use this knowledge to justify not making a resolution at all.  But should we really avoid resolutions because of a our fears of failure?  Of course not.

Most successful people will tell you that failure is success, as long as you learn from it.  You may have even heard this famous quote from Thomas Edison:

I have not failed, not once. I’ve discovered ten thousand ways that don’t work.

This is the way I see it – If you’ve made a resolution that is really in your best interest to keep, then don’t throw it out the window just because a few weeks into it you are not exactly where you hoped you would be.  It’s the intention that matters most.  If your intention was good, then now is as good a time as any to tweak your resolution a bit, and make it more realistic for yourself.  Remind yourself that you can choose to see your glass as half empty or half full.  Perception is the only thing standing between you and success.

So now, how would you answer the question I asked at the beginning of this post…

Would you say you’ve been successful, or that you’ve already failed?

If it helps, take some time to re-evaluate your resolution, and set more realistic goals yourself.  And remember, it’s much better for you to focus on the ways you’ve been successful, rather than on the ways you believe you may be failing.

Let’s take a look at what other bloggers are saying about success vs. failure…

From Chronic Chick – Don’t Set Yourself Up for Failure…

Going on a diet is not an easy thing to do no matter how much weight you want to lose or how many times you have tried to lose the weight. Most people I know set their selves up for failure before they start a diet.

From Journey to Lose 200 Pounds – Revelations Revealed…

Falling off the wagon does not mean that I am a failure and I am going to gain back all of the weight that I’ve lost. STAYING off the wagon will cause me to fail and gain back all of the weight that I’ve lost. Quick recovery is the key!

I honestly think this is the most valuable lesson I have learned all year.

Also See:

• Believe In Yourself:  Set Realistic Diet & Fitness Goals
• From Your Success Corner – Staying Committed
• From Big Girl Bombshell – What Motivates You

Did you make a New Year’s resolution?  Are you ready to give up on it?  Or do you think you will stick with it, even if it means re-evaluating your goals a bit?  Let us know in comments.