It’s a Terrible Idea
“May all your troubles last as long as your New Year resolutions.” That’s about the most positive quote I can find about resolutions today. I know people who have had these work out very well. Year after year they pick a goal and nail it. Rinse and repeat. That’s awesome. Keep doing that.
Me, I don’t have that good of luck. I had better luck trying to wish away things I didn’t want in the new year rather than things I want to start.
Peer pressure – Encouraging or Frightening?
One of the great things about announcing your resolutions is to have some accountability with everyone in the room.
Maybe that’s not so great. Maybe that feels like some overwhelming pressure to you. There are perfectionists out there who feel the smallest slip is the greatest failure. This is probably an attitude to avoid with just about every resolution.
If you do like the accountability, you might raise the bar with a competition. There are programs out there which you can compete with your friends. You might even be able to compete for cash if you are motivated that way.
All About Habits
Ultimately resolutions are all about new habits. Maybe they’re new habits to start or to end. Either way the habit itself is a challenge.
We go into this a bit on our blog post on Making the Changes. When you get through a personal retreat, you need to start making those changes; making new habits.
If you need to make habits out of making habits, this article from Zenhabits gives you a great toolbox from which you can become a habit-making master.
If Resolutions Work For You
Well why are you reading this? You have been nailing it!
Let me ask you this though – are you making your resolutions hard enough? Are you challenging yourself enough? It’s one thing to just keep knocking down challenges, but if they aren’t very difficult, they’ll become boring. You aren’t going to really feel satisfied and move toward your larger life goals.
If They Don’t
First off, if you don’t like them – don’t do them. I can give you some tips, but if they aren’t going to work for you there’s probably no magic bullet. Maybe you need to check out the tools for making new habits and start there.
If you do and you just struggle – try some of these apps on your smartphone. The biggest obstacles and removed one little piece at a time. What apps do is help you out with those little steps and you accomplish that goal before you even know it. Better yet, you’re getting achievements along the way.
Are you making any resolutions? Are you a resolution pro or do you need some help? Let us know in the comments!