Slacker Method for a Successful New Year’s Resolution
Posted by Jacques - December 31, 2008The easiest method for actually accomplishing your New Year’s resolution is to make it achievable. No, that doesn’t mean we dumb it down to, “I will exercise once in 2009″ but we don’t expect everyone to, “complete an Iron Man race.” Rather, we should understand that resolutions aren’t meant to impress anyone, they serve to remind us that 
each year we can continually improve ourselves. I would go with, “Exercise at least twice a week for 30 minutes.”
Something that I remembered from my school years is that in order to set a good goal, it has to be a SMART goal. Specific, Measurable, Attainable (but not too attainable), Realistic, and Time Bound. At the same time, it has to challenge you to improve in some way. Creating a goal that you can accomplish right away, or is something that you already do is quite pointless.
Take the example I gave about exercising (which is one of the top resolutions made by people).
“I will exercise once in 2009″
This is much too attainable can be accomplished without changing any behavior about yourself. A resolution is about change; making something about next year that was different in a good way from this year.
“Complete an Iron Man race.”
This resolution meets almost all the criteria except being realistic. You have to know your own limits, and if you think setting the bar too high will make you reach even higher, well, many self help coaches will disagree with me, but I’ve seen all too often that it does not make you perform better. Often setting the expectations too high will leave you feeling disappointed and eventually you will give up completely.
“Exercise at least twice a week for 30 minutes.”
This is the best choice. It may SOUND easy, but for the average overweight person this will become more difficult as the weeks roll by, but it isn’t too hard. It’s like dangling a carrot just out of your reach. The idea that the goal is within your grasp will keep you going.
Finally, note the singular “resolution” not resolutions in the headline of this entry. The MOST IMPORTANT rule about setting yourself up with a successful resolution, is to have only one. One resolution, that is a little challenging, will make you a better person than having ten resolutions that you will give up on after the the snow starts melting (I don’t have snow in Florida but you can follow me here).
Here’s the reason why.
If you do a good job making a resolution, then you will probably achieve it. If you achieve it after a whole year, then you probably had to make it a habit. If it’s a habit, then it will probably be a part of you for the rest of your life. If you achieve one good resolution year after year, you will end up being more amazing than you could have ever imagined.
There are some people who go through their entire lives, for example, starting new diets, complaining about their weight, they start trying something new, then they crash. If they had taken one year to learn what permanent changes they had to make to achieve the body image and health that they wanted, then the next year they could focus on improving something else, like maybe their personality or their financial situation. But a lot of the people that you see, spend decades focusing on thousands of their problems, and they are still overweight and still unhappy. You only need to resolve to do one great thing a year, and it will make all the difference in your life. And to tell you the truth, it’s also a hell of a lot easier to focus on changing one thing about yourself at a time.
So to recap, have one resolution for the year, and make sure it is challenging but realistic.
Okay me time! For me, I look into 2009 with a lot of hope. Barack Obama will be taking charge (I didn’t vote for him but I think he’ll do a good job), people are learning that they have to live within their means, and everyone is understanding what happens when you put too much faith in money and in things. I was going to make it a goal to work for myself again, or perhaps get that awesome six pack I’ve been hearing about so much. But I’m healthy, I’m not broke, and I’m young enough that I have plenty of time to achieve those kinds of goals. I figured, what is something that I have been putting off and putting off, that I will probably never accomplish unless I do it now? Finish writing a book.
I’ve started so many kinds of writing, fiction, non-fiction, songs, poems, even comic strips, but never once did I finish it. So, in 2009, I pledge to finish writing a book about how to live a better life as a slacker. I don’t know the title for it yet, although that sounds just fine, but I love the topic. I think that slackers have better priorities sometimes than what society believes they do. We value intelligence, street smarts, and people, more than we do jobs, money, power, and things. Most of all, we value our time, in and out of the office and if we choose to relax in the limited amount of time we have soaking up (I almost said smoking) all the goodness of life, then more power to us. Please look out for my book in 2009, and wish me luck! As I’m wishing you all the best in your New Year’s Resolution.
- Jacques
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my resolutions is to see my abs again.
Comment by izzy — January 2, 2009 #
I agree that a resolution must be attainable. My 2009 resolution is laid out in excruciating detail on my Gaia profile. To me, it’s a promise you make to yourself. To keep that promise shows integrity and self-respect.
Comment by Sheila — January 10, 2009 #