We all know what happens. On January 1, we set our goals for the new year. Our resolutions of all that we are going to do and accomplish. Now that we are a few weeks into the new year, let’s be honest. How many of those resolutions have already fallen by the wayside? I’m going to take a stab in the dark and say that, at best, they are hanging on by a thread.
Even with our best intentions, it seems New Year’s Resolutions are made to be broken. But why? Why can’t we come up with goals of what we want to accomplish and do and stick with it? Chances are, it’s because we go into the New Year with bright eyes full of hope and motivation that slowly wanes as the holiday season ends and life returns to normal. But you can still have resolutions for the new year, goals of all you want to accomplish and do.
Understand the amount of time your resolutions will really take
When we set our annual New Year’s resolutions, we are coming off of a time of year that is not representative of the rest of the year. Yes, the holidays are a busy time of year, but it’s a different kind of busy. It’s a busy that we know is going to come to and end, but also is balanced by the fact that we actually have more free time because we have days off. The office is closed for Christmas and New Year, and many take the week between the two off. When we go back to work or the regular schedule of life, that time shrinks. The time we thought we had is no longer there.
So maybe one of your New Year’s resolutions is to go to the gym every day. Depending on how you define every day, that easily adds up to 5 – 7 hours a week. That’s almost a full day of work. And quite a commitment. A commitment that runs the risk of cutting into the other things you have to and want to do. A better strategy so that you can be successful may be to resolve to go to the gym 2 – 3 times a week to start. Let yourself get into a routine and slowly build up to where you want to be. Who knows? Maybe this year’s goal is to go to the gym three times a week and next year’s is to go 5 times.
Don’t make too many resolutions
Our motivation and optimism at the beginning of the year make us want to – and think we can – take on the world. But let’s be realistic. Working or not, you already have a laundry list of things that we do each day. And even if you’re not working, that list is LONG. You do a lot more than anyone – including yourself – ever realized.
So what happens when you add more onto that list? Specifically, those things that you resolved on January 1 to do this year. Things don’t get done. Or, if they are completed, they are not done as well as you would have liked . Remember, there are only 24 hours in a day, and some of that needs to be used for sleeping. The more things you resolve to do, the bigger the chance you will fall short and not fulfill your resolutions for the year.
Sure, go ahead and make a list of everything you would like to do this year. And then rank them in order of importance to you. Note how long each of them will take each day or each week. And then, decide what is realistically feasible to accomplish. To start, it may be only a couple of items on your list. It may be just one. But as time goes on, the new item or items will become part of your daily routine and easier to do. When time feels like it has eased up some, you then have the opportunity to add a new resolution to your routine.
Consider an annual bucket list instead
I have to admit, I stole this idea from my daughter. She doesn’t make New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, she creates a bucket list of all she wants to accomplish and do during the year. And because it is a bucket list, some of the items are a lot more fun than, “Exercise three times each week.” Her lists have included everything from concerts she wants to go to, to learning how to play a particular song on the bass guitar, to the GPA or class rank she wants to have achieved by the end of the school year. Some of the items are completely within reach. Others are wishes, hopes, and dreams.
What the list doesn’t do is prioritize the items on the list or outline how she is going to achieve each of the items. That lack of achievement definition, if you’re not diligent, can be a toughie. My daughter knows what is on her list and what it will take to achieve each item, and if the item is really truly achievable at all. For instance, with everything else going on in life, her bucket list item of going to see a particular band who was playing in Australia was not realistic. But that’s not to say she can’t see them at another point in time somewhere else.
For those items that are achievable, they always live in the back of her mind. She knows what it will take to achieve the GPA she wants. She knows what it will take to learn how to play a song on her bass guitar. And so, as time allows, she works on checking things off of her list. While not everything gets checked off every year, at least 2/3 of her 50 – 60 item list gets checked off at the end of each year.
What was on your New Year’s resolution list that you made on January 1?
How many of those items are you still maintaining? If you’re not keeping up, take a look at your list again and figure out how you can set up your resolutions for the new year into a pathway for success.
