Happy New Years Resolutions

Today is the final day of 2019, and the time of year when many of us compose our annual list of New Year’s Resolutions.

Of course, most resolutions fail to survive through the end of January.  But if you want your New Year’s Resolutions to stick, I offer the following recommendations.

1. Keep your list to fewer than five, best between one and three. Better to keep one resolution than fail at keeping twenty.
2. Work within your own psychological framework in structuring resolutions. For instance, I tend to meet deadlines. I have written this blog every week for the past seven years because I have a Monday evening deadline. I know that to be effective, my own resolutions must have an objective deadline.  One of my New Year’s resolutions this year is to walk a daily average of 4,000 steps, with 2,000 steps before lunch.  This gives me both an interim and daily deadline, which helps me meet my goal.
3. Keep your resolutions simple and you’ll be more likely to accomplish them. For example, “I’m going to give myself one compliment every day before noon, is clear, concise and easily achievable.  You might post a note on your refrigerator to remind you.”
4. Keep it specific. “In 2020 I’m going to have the best year of my life,” is far too general.  To be effective, a resolution must be something you can objectively verify.
5. Tell three people, in writing, what your resolutions are, and ask them to check back to see how you are doing at the end of January. If you don’t commit to anyone else, it’s too easy to “forget.”  If you resist the idea of telling others your specific resolutions in the first place, then you have crossed your fingers behind your back and probably already know you don’t really intend to keep them.
6. Ask friends for suggestions. If an idea comes from someone else, it might be a good one that you would not otherwise have thought of. Your friends will be thrilled when you ask them to share their wisdom with you.
7. Don’t challenge yourself too severely. The more extreme the resolution, the more likely you won’t keep it.

I’ve heard it said that a habit is first a cobweb, then a cord, and finally a cable.  Your new resolutions call for a change in the cable of your present habits, and long-standing habits, like addictions, are not easily changed.

But also remember that any day of the year is a good day to start improving your life. You don’t have to wait for a new year to resolve to change for the better.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and productive year in 2020.

Alan