New Year’s Resolutions

It’s time for that old ritual again.  Time to make our New Year’s resolutions, even though a month from now they will all be broken.  Every year we fail to keep them very long, but every year we try again.  One person was trying to save some time, so their New Year’s resolution was to accomplish last year’s resolutions.

A study showed that 76% of all New Year’s resolutions have to do with our weight.  We determine to eat more healthy foods, or go to the gym once or twice a week–and this time we are serious.

I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.   I have come to terms with the fact that they never work.  Instead, I set goals each year in January for what I want to accomplish by the end of the year.  I write them out in my little black moleskine book.

My wife asked me “What’s the difference between a resolution and a goal?”  To me, a resolution is something I start doing now and if I slip up on doing it, I have failed.  I have broken my New Year’s resolution and I typically will just give up.  A goal is something I work toward all through the year, and I evaluate my success at the end of the year.  I may check it out monthly, but my not reaching my goal and sticking to my goal everyday is not failure.  So I guess the difference is in how I evaluate my success.

I have eight categories and I set several goals under each one.  Here are my categories and an example of a goal I have under that category:

1.  Physical:  I start with the weight thing.  One of my goals in this category is to lose 12 pounds this year.  One pound a month.

2.  Mental:  I want to start taking Oboe lessons (Something I’ve always wanted to do, and this is the year to do it.)

3.  Spiritual:  I want to study and meditate on the Old Testament Minor Prophets.

4.  Financial:  I want to have 2 months income in reserve in a safe mutual fund.

5.  Marriage:  I want to plan more fun things we can do together.

6.  Business:  I want to average 18 clients a week.

7.  Family:  I want us to have an all-family “Sunday Lunch” once a month.

8.  Travel:  I want to visit the Cotswolds in England

Question:   Why not try setting goals in place of making resolutions?

This entry was posted in Marriage & Family Matters, not Resolutions and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to New Year’s Resolutions

  1. Family_Man says:

    Excellent article. I will try this strategy.

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