Achieve Your Resolutions: Archana Sarat
Achieve Your Resolutions: Archana Sarat
ARCHANA SARAT
eBOOK
1 Achieve Your Resolutions
Achieve
Your
This 2018
©ARCHANASARAT2017
2 Achieve Your Resolutions
Read Write Inspire is a Writer’s Studio, a place where you can find help, resources and
inspiration to hone your writing skills, increase your productivity, read some interesting books
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mailreadwriteinspire/
Twitter: @archanasarat
Instagram: @archanasarat
If you would be interested in receiving our fortnightly newsletter jam-packed with helpful
All content on the website, including this book and the workbook, are copyrighted.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
3 Achieve Your Resolutions
Archana Sarat is the author of a psychological crime thriller, Birds of Prey, which has gathered
wide acclaim for being a gripping and pacy read. She is also the author of Tit for Tat, a collection
of thriller flash fiction stories. Her shorter works have been published in various popular
newspapers, magazines and anthologies like The Times of India, The Economic Times, The Free
Press Journal, The SEBI and Corporate Laws Journal, The CA Newsletter, Me Magazine, the
Science Reporter, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, the NaNoWriMo India Anthology, the
Writersmelon Jukebox Anthology and many more. She is popular in the online world for her
flash fiction that appears every Saturday, called Saturday Shots. Though she is a Chartered
Accountant by qualification, she took up her childhood love for writing as her vocation. She has
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archana_Sarat
Faccebook: www.facebook.com/archanasaratauthor
Twitter: @archanasarat
Instagram: @archanasarat
©ARCHANASARAT2017
4 Achieve Your Resolutions
INTRODUCTION
At least, they have always done in my life until last year. I start off making a long list of Dos and
Don’ts on the first day of every year and promptly forget all about it by the twentieth. By the
time February begins, I am back to my earlier self, gorging on cream rolls, skipping Pilates and
whiling away more time scrolling down the Facebook timeline than writing.
2017 was no different except that I woke up from this reverie sometime around the middle of the
year. I realized, with a shock, that I was still hungover from the euphoria of publishing my first
novel and had hardly written a single word for the last seven months. This was despite being
commissioned for three separate books. Netflix was tempting, Netflix coupled with potato wafers
was bliss and I couldn’t get myself to follow through on my obligations. Despite being blessed
I sat down, had a good cry and then picked up a fresh sheaf of papers. I made a list of resolutions
once again. It was then that it struck me that I have been doing this wrong all these years.
New Year Resolutions cannot be a list of things to do and not do. It cannot be a list of dreams
and goals. It cannot be a timetable to how your day should go. All these steps help in their own
ways, but they cannot make a dream/resolution come true. It needs something more.
With this insight, I used all that I have learned from reading hundreds of self-help and
inspirational books for the last couple of decades and tweaked my resolutions a little bit this
©ARCHANASARAT2017
5 Achieve Your Resolutions
time. The following six months must have been one of the most productive phases in my writing
life.
In those six months, I completed the first draft of two crime thrillers, wrote two children’s books,
One of the children’s books involved intense research on a scientific subject and I read nearly a
dozen fat books on that subject before penning it. Apart from this, I read about thirty-five novels
I made sure that I got at least an hour of physical activity every day. I spent at least two hours
every evening with the children, didn’t work on Sundays and took a two-week-vacation in
October.
Frankly, compared with many other writers, this is not a lot, but I am proud of myself. For the
first time, I understood how I could transfer dreams into action. I’d love to share with you what
worked for me. If you are interested in knowing how I tweak my resolutions to make them easier
©ARCHANASARAT2017
6 Achieve Your Resolutions
This book comes with an accompanying workbook. It would be best if you could take a printout
of the workbook. There is something about working with pen and paper, the old-fashioned way,
when it comes to creating your life plans. It helps you think deeply and creatively. So, I suggest
you take a printout of the workbook and write your way, by hand, through the New Year
1) Keep aside 30-60 minutes for going through this book and working on the workbook.
4) Make yourself a cup of your favourite drink, sit comfortably, open the book on your
computer and keep the printout of the workbook, along with a couple of your favourite
Let’s begin…
©ARCHANASARAT2017
7 Achieve Your Resolutions
THE JOURNEY
“If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.”
Thomas A. Edison
If you choose to own a sea-facing bungalow at Mumbai, it can be yours. If you choose to be a
best-selling author, you can be one. If you choose to earn an annual income of one crore rupees
There are only three steps to follow to reach the destination of your dreams:
1) Be equipped
This is the journey of your life. To transverse it and reach your destination safely, you
need to be equipped with qualities that will help you and spur you on your path. The next
chapter gives you insights about some basic principles that you need to equip yourself
with.
Most of you must have heard of the story of the man who lost his keys at home but was
searching for it beneath the lamp post because it was brighter there. Do not allow the gap
between your goals and actions become something like that. If you want to become a
best-selling author, you need to write that book. There is no way around that.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
8 Achieve Your Resolutions
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' Alice asked.
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
To achieve our dreams, we all make resolutions. We want to look slim and beautiful. So,
we need to lose weight. However, there is the New Year party coming up and our
resolutions blast away with the crackers. Why does this happen? How can we avert it?
3) Stay on path
Choosing a path is only equivalent to getting started. The challenge comes in staying on
the path and continuing to walk towards our destination. There will be days when you
will be soaring along on a race car and then, there will be days when you have no mood
to even walk. Remember, it is important that you do not stop. IF YOU CANNOT
WALK, CRAWL, BUT YOU NEED TO KEEP MOVING. Learn how to create New
- Swami Vivekananda
©ARCHANASARAT2017
9 Achieve Your Resolutions
BE EQUIPPED
Before you decide your destination and the path that will take you to it, be equipped with these
four life principles. Whatever may be your path, these principles are sure to help you on your
journey.
I. Be Present
Every year, when I made my resolutions, I think there was a small part of me that never expected
Along with that, I was struck with a nagging feeling that all my best-laid plans were going to go
astray. ‘Haven’t they always? Why should it be any different this year? Aren’t I going on a
vacation in May? That will bust my schedule! How can I expect to write every day? What if the
kids fell sick?’ These misplaced anxieties about the FUTURE ruined whatever little chances
were left.
The past is over, and the future is unpredictable. The only thing we have in our hands is the
‘present’. To let go off the past and march into a dream future, we must BE PRESENT.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
10 Achieve Your Resolutions
When you are in the present, FOCUS ALL YOUR ENERGIES AND ATTENTION TO THE
TASK AT HAND. Distracted presence and multi-tasking have become a part of our lives today.
How many of you read the book till here without getting up from your seat? Or answering the
phone? Or doing anything else that took your eyes off the book? If you are lifting your hand, hats
off to you! Out of the first twenty people who read this book, eighteen of them answered in the
negative. It is a sad that we are unable to read 1000 words without losing concentration.
- Bhagavad Gita
The first principle that you need to equip yourself with is to concentrate on the present with all
This was my major problem. I loved to blame others. For example, my usual excuses for not
writing were
➢ I was sick!
©ARCHANASARAT2017
11 Achieve Your Resolutions
I’m sure you get the idea. When you are in an artistic field or self-employed, it is easy to put off
what you want to do. Things that are urgent take precedence over things that are important.
“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.”
When I decided I needed to make changes in my life, the first thing that I let go off was blaming
others. This is the toughest principle to live by. I still slip at times because it is always easy to
blame others or blame the circumstances for your mistakes. The toughest thing is to own up and
One thing that helped me on this path was watching my language. Earlier, I used to mention, “I
didn’t write today because the schools were off, and the kids were creating a ruckus. I had not a
moment of peace.” Now, I watch what I speak. When my husband asks me how was your
writing today, I tell him, “I didn’t write today because I got distracted by the kids. I should have
locked the study and worked, but I didn’t.” This is the difference between blaming others and
Whenever something goes wrong in your life or when your best-laid plans go astray, WATCH
YOUR ACTIONS AND YOUR LANGUAGE. Are you blaming others or are you taking
responsibility for the same? You may not be able to change immediately, but when you
When you own up to the issues in your life, whether it is an abusive relationship or an addiction
or disobedient children or anything else, magic happens. You are sending a message to the
universe that you are in control of the situation. So, the universe decides to send you suggestions
©ARCHANASARAT2017
12 Achieve Your Resolutions
to solve the issue. If you play the victim, this will not happen. Once the solution for the issue
So, the second principle on your journey is to take 100% responsibility for your life.
III. Be Positive
—T. Roosevelt
All of us dream for good things, big things. How many of us believe that those good things can
happen to us? Later, in this book, you will receive suggestions that can change the beliefs you
For now,
3) Do not allow negative words or thoughts near you. That means, neither should you speak
words that can harm others nor listen to such words spoken to you. For instance, you
should never tell yourself that you cannot do something. At the same time, if someone
tells you cannot do something or that it is hard/impossible, walk away from that person.
4) Do not be tied down by negative emotions. This includes and is not limited to anger,
©ARCHANASARAT2017
13 Achieve Your Resolutions
5) Believe in abundance. There is no scarcity. There is always place in the bookstore for one
more book and that book can be yours. The world could use another millionaire and that
person could be you. You are not stealing anyone’s opportunity by becoming a
doctor/engineer/author/artist. The money you earn is not someone’s loss, unless and until
—Roald Dahl
IV. Ask
"Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.”
The entire world, the journey, everything is built on the principle of ‘ask’, but most of us cannot
bring ourselves to ask others for help. We are frightened to ask for information, direction, help,
➢ Fear of rejection
©ARCHANASARAT2017
14 Achieve Your Resolutions
Step back from the situation. Think logically. What are the two possible outcomes when you ask
If they say yes, you have gotten what you want. If they say no, you are at the same place where
To summarise, the four principles that you need to equip yourself with on your journey are:
4) Ask confidently.
WORKBOOK: Please do the Exercise 1 in the Workbook before proceeding to the next chapter.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
15 Achieve Your Resolutions
Dreams
Dreams are ethereal beings that float away into oblivion. Most of our new year resolutions fall in
➢ Lose weight
➢ Create art
➢ Write a book
➢ Meditate
However, within a month, all these resolutions wither away and nothing remains. This is because
these are dreams. Dreams need to have a solid shape for them to materialise. Before we talk
Imagine that the year is 2023, i.e. 5 years from now. Make a list of all the things that you have in
your life now. By things, I mean not just material things but also relationships, family, friends,
children, profession, hobbies, health, body weight, fitness, vacations, work–life balance, bank
balance, investments, houses, cars, charities supported, etc. Do not restrain your imagination.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
16 Achieve Your Resolutions
Goals
Dreams are good, but they cannot materialise if they remain as dreams. These dreams define how
you would prefer your ideal destination to be, but they do not tell me what is the destination. It is
the goal that defines our dreams and gives it a solid shape.
Let me explain this further. You want to go for a vacation to a beach resort. This is a dream. This
cannot materialise until you tell me whether the resort you want to go to is in Goa or in Hawaii.
Also, you haven’t told me whether you want to go in May or in December. You also must tell me
if you want to go now or ten years from now. Unless you give me all this information, I cannot
The same is true with the universe. Unless you are clear what you want from the universe and by
'And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.'
So, now convert your dreams into concrete goals. There are two features that define a goal:
For example,
➢ ‘I want to lose weight’ is a dream. ‘I will lose five kilograms by 5pm on the 30th June
2018’ is a goal.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
17 Achieve Your Resolutions
➢ ‘I want to write a book’ is a dream. ‘I want to write a book about ‘Achieving New Year
Resolutions’ and deliver it to everyone interested before 6pm on the 31st of December
2017’ is a goal.
➢ ‘I will exercise everyday’ is a dream. ‘I will take a gym membership immediately and
➢ ‘I want a big house’ is a dream. ‘I want a 4000 square feet beach-facing bungalow in
Mumbai’ is a goal.
➢ Clear,
➢ Specific,
➢ Have a deadline
Make sure that your goals are challenging enough to scare and excite you. If you have always
been reading 10 books a year, a goal of reading 12 books a year is not challenging. If you decide
to read 30 books this year, then that will stretch and test you.
EXERCISE 3:
Read through each of the dreams that you have mentioned in the previous exercise. Based on the
vision of the perfect life that you have conjured up for yourself, create a list of goals that you
want to achieve. Make sure that they are measurable and that they have deadlines. The sky is the
©ARCHANASARAT2017
18 Achieve Your Resolutions
After you have jotted down the goals, along with how you will measure them and by when you
will achieve them, it is important to constantly remind yourself about them. Right now, your
goals have emerged from your dreams for the next five years. Every year, or maybe every few
months, you may dream bigger and your goal should also evolve to achieve that. So, maintain a
‘Goals Journal’ and write down your goals in that book. Keep adding goals to them. When you
accomplish a goal, tick it off in the journal. This gives such an indescribable high that will spur
READ YOUR GOALS TWICE A DAY. If you can read them out aloud, do so. If that makes
you uncomfortable, read them softly but visualise your goals as if you have already achieved that
goal. For instance, if your goal is to write a book, imagine yourself autographing your book as an
excited queue of fans have gathered to meet you. Believe in the power of your dreams and
visions.
As your goal journal keeps growing, it might be difficult to read all the goals that you have listed
there for the next fifty years of your life. If so, then read the goals that have a deadline within the
next five years. Read them twice a day, after you get up in the morning and before you go to bed.
At least, once a week, read all the goals that you have jotted in your journal.
A goal is the destination that you want to reach. Now, you must choose the path through which
So, if you want to be a published author by 6pm on 30th December 2018, then you must work out
©ARCHANASARAT2017
19 Achieve Your Resolutions
➢ Choose the genre and Plan the story – Jan 1st to Jan 15th
➢ Write the first draft of the book – Jan 15th to Feb 28th
➢ Create a book proposal and send to agents – April 15th to April 30th
➢ With luck and efforts, you have a publishing deal by July or August.
Remember, contacting a publisher is ‘asking’. If he refuses, it only means you haven’t asked the
So, this is how you break down your goal into smaller actionable steps with clear deadlines. Do
this for all your goals. Another example: If you plan to spend quality time with your spouse,
create a goal that you both will go on twenty dates without friends or children and spend quality
time together. Break it down and fix the dates and timing that will work out for both of you.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
20 Achieve Your Resolutions
STAY ON PATH
When I had started out with this book, I told you about how I tweaked my resolutions a little bit
and how that boosted my productivity tremendously. Let me share my exact process with you.
After writing down my future dreams and plans, I created goals just like how I had described in
the previous chapter. Then, I broke down the goals further so that it is easier to implement them
After doing all of this, I created my New Year Resolutions. Usually, we create our New Year
Resolutions and then think of ways to achieve them. I did the reverse.
➢ I decided my destination,
➢ then decided what I needed to do this year to take me further down the road to my
destination.
Another thing that I did differently was to frame my resolutions in the form of affirmations. I
For instance,
➢ if I want to lose five kilograms and become 60 kilograms, I say, “I am healthy and fit
➢ if I want to become a published author, I say, “I am happily autographing books for the
©ARCHANASARAT2017
21 Achieve Your Resolutions
➢ If you want a sea facing apartment, you say, “I am calmly enjoying the sea breeze on the
When we convert our resolutions into affirmations, we start visualising our dreams as reality.
After converting your goals into New Year Resolutions, READ THEM OUT LOUD TWICE A
DAY after you have read your goals. If you can, keep a copy in your purse, stick it in front of
your desk, and read them even more than twice if possible. Every time, you read the affirmation,
close your eyes and imagine yourself experiencing what you are saying.
The more clearly that you can visualise your resolution, the more probable it is that you will
➢ It is positive and does not have any words with negative connotations. For example, don’t
say, ‘I am losing five kilos’ or ‘I have lost five kilos’. Say, ‘I am healthy and pretty at
sixty kilos’.
➢ It is specific with clear description. Mention the colour of the car, the genre of the book
©ARCHANASARAT2017
22 Achieve Your Resolutions
ACT NOW
—Anonymous
Now, you have your dreams, goals, path and affirmations ready. How do you put them all to
If you remember, I had mentioned in the beginning of this book that I had completed the first
draft of two crime thrillers, wrote two children’s books, completed and registered a screenplay
for a two-hour-feature film, published a collection of my flash fiction stories and wrote four short
stories in a period of six months. I had also read thirty-five fiction books and twenty non-fiction
The reason why I was able to be this productive in those six months was because I had immense
clarity about who I wanted to be and where I wanted to reach for the first time in my life. I hope
this book and the accompanying workbook do the same for you.
However, there is one thing that you need to remember. All the planning and goal-setting in the
world cannot take you even a step closer to your destination if you do not act upon it.
The biggest enemy of productivity is procrastination. Call it by whatever name you please,
writers block, laziness, resistance or anything, but it exists. Whenever you want to make some
change in your life for the better, it rears its ugly head out and blocks your way. That was when I
read about the 5-second rule. It can literally change your life.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
23 Achieve Your Resolutions
Whenever you THINK of doing something, you take the first step within the next five seconds.
Let’s say that you are home after a long tiring day at office. Just before you go to bed, you
wonder if you should make the outline for the next chapter in the novel that you are writing.
Now, this is something in your goals and resolution and it is good for you. Before you decide
whether to write or not, according to this rule, you should do something to move you towards
this idea. Say, you pick up your pen and book within five seconds of the thought striking you.
Usually, once you have picked up the pen, you would keep going. It is the starting that is
difficult.
As soon as you wonder whether to go to the gym or not, take your scooter keys, grab your gym
bag and step out of house. I’m sure you will not step back inside the house but will go on to the
gym. It is the first five seconds that play havoc and prevent you from achieving all that you can
do.
If you want to know more about this rule and how to apply it, read the following books:
1) The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
by Mel Robbins
2) The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change by Charles Duhigg
3) Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
by Brian Tracy
Success cannot be achieved in a single day. It takes consistent effort, persistence and
perseverance, for you to move towards your goals and reach your destination.
©ARCHANASARAT2017
24 Achieve Your Resolutions
➢ When creating goals, focus on all areas of your life. Don’t stick to only professional or
financial goals. Make personal goals, family goals, relationship goals, parenting goals, etc
too. You can achieve happiness and contentment only if your life is balanced in all areas.
➢ Remember to read your goals and affirmations, at least twice a day, every day. When you
read them out, close your eyes and visualise yourself as if you have already achieved
them.
➢ When you work on creating new habits, do it one at a time. Let us say that you plan to
forego sugar in your diet. When you are doing this, don’t tie yourself to writing every day
or exercising every day too. Give it a month at least before your new habit becomes a part
of your lifestyle. Then, take up the next habit. Any permanent change takes a lot of
©ARCHANASARAT2017
25 Achieve Your Resolutions
Bibliography
I wasn’t born with any of the knowledge that I shared with you above. It is what I have gained
from most of the inspiring books that I have read in the last couple of decades. I read ‘The Seven
Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers’ when I was fourteen and I have been hooked on to self-
help books from then. I mention a few self-help books that are my personal favourites, and that
1) How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be by Jack Canfield.
5) The 5 Second Rule: Transform your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage
by Mel Robbins
6) The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do, and How to Change by Charles Duhigg
9) The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield
10) Key to Living the Law of Attraction: A Simple Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams
©ARCHANASARAT2017
26 Achieve Your Resolutions
If you received this eBook without asking for it but found it interesting and useful, please
You will not be spammed. You will receive just two mails every month that carry our fortnightly
newsletter jam-packed with helpful information for writers and avid readers.
Read Write Inspire is a Writer’s Studio, a place where you can find
Thank You
©ARCHANASARAT2017