Every New Year people talk about resolutions. The gym becomes a lot busier on January 1st and healthy foods begin to fly off of the shelf. But around the middle of February, things go back to normal as resolutions are given up and Valentine’s Day candy goes on sale.
Starting in January, I also try and do something beneficial for myself and set yearly resolutions: to not eat sweets, cut out pop from my diet, read 15 books a year; but alas, I too fall into the resolution downfall and go back to my old ways—I just love cookies too much.
I really do admire the idea behind resolutions, but they just don’t seem to work or stick in today’s times. The start of New Year’s resolutions goes back to the Babylonians who made promises to their gods at the beginning of each year. Their resolutions were a lot similar to the ones we make today (such as getting out of debt), but they stuck with them because their completed resolutions meant they would earn good favor. Completing our modern resolutions might make us feel good, but not necessarily give us good favor—life inevitably will happen.
Because of the longevity of the idea of resolutions, you would think that more people would actually stick with them yet, I have met only a handful of people who actually have stuck with their resolutions and can say on December 31st of the next year that they completed what they said they were going to do. I commend those that are able to stick with their resolutions, because it takes a huge amount of will power and focus. But for me, someone who is scatter brained, busy, and stressed easily, resolutions seem to fly away as quickly as I think them up.
However, this year, I have decided to ditch the resolution and instead set something that can be measured, evaluated, and actually accomplished: a monthly goal. I got the idea from a friend of mine whose mother has found immense success in setting monthly goals. Goals are a lot better than resolutions because they can be altered to fit your needs, are more achievable, and can be tracked. A perfect goal has a purpose, a time limit, and a way to be evaluated whether quantitatively or qualitatively. If a goal is achieved, then it can be built upon so the final product comes from more of a process than an open statement with no plan. Some monthly goals I’m tossing around in my head are eating at home for a whole week, going to the gym at least twice a week, getting all of my assignments in on time and getting at least 6 hours of sleep a night (meaning going to bed before midnight). I can track each of these goals and I have a time limit to evaluate my success. Because I know I can evaluate each month, I don’t feel like I’ll give up as easily because my goals are attainable.
So join me if you’d like or stick to the resolution. I know I already feel like I accomplish more with my goal setting.
