When he saw our surprised faces over the high volume of people working out,
one of the managers at the neighborhood recreation center said: "I've seen
it over and over; this enthusiasm only lasts until February".
‘Exercise more’ might be the number one resolution for most people who even
bother to make a list. However, just as the enthusiasm for exercising wears out
in a month, resolutions have a short lifespan for the big majority. For the
last several years, one of my resolutions has been 'Write daily'. I have
started a few journals, created a 'write about work' blog, and wrote down variations
on schedules to include a daily 45 minute writing routine. But there is always bad
weather, illness, stress, long commutes, dinner preparations, winding down... reasons
that become excuses to leave blank several of my journal pages.
Through the years, I have learned a few basics on making resolutions. One of
the rules is to keep them realistic. Attempting to make radical changes in life
such as ‘Eradicate negative thoughts from my mind’ has been proved counterproductive.
Another rule is to keep a short list, ideally with no more than five
resolutions in it.
John Goddard would probably refute this rule, but very few
of us have his capacity for commitment. The third rule is to make your goals measurable. ‘Be
happy’ sounds good, but does not help you track your progress on a regular
basis.
In his book ‘The Pathfinder’, Nicholas Lore challenges his readers to rename
their desires and call them commitments instead. Following the same path, it
might be a good idea to change the resolutions to goals, and to set a path to
fulfill them. In that case, writing a list is only the first step in a series
of tasks that will help you get through.
Once you have a list of the things you want to change, improve, or eliminate
from your life, you might want to set a deadline to accomplish it. Separate
time to evaluate your daily goals. Celebrate your successes. Determine a
pathway to accomplish your goals. ‘Have a master’s degree’ will most likely
fail if it is not backed up by specifics.
Finally, prepare for failure, but don’t give up. There are 365 days to keep
trying, re-writing, and refining those commitments. Perhaps ‘Changing my resolutions
into commitments’ will be first in my list for 2013.
