No resolutions for 2019
Instead of resolutions, how about we choose which habits we're going to build...or break.
I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions. I always sensed that they are goals with no real strategy of achieving them.
Really I think the New Year’s resolution should be goals that are actionable and they should be S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-sensitive). But really are they actually that? Usually not.
Resolutions should really be the habits you intend to build, or break, in the new year. You can plan to take the first 4-6 weeks to create the habit or to establish the tactics for the goal you want to achieve…and then spend the last 11 months of the year reinforcing that habit.
The resolution I’ve had for the last four years it to get one percent better every day. Now this isn’t something that I can quantify, but the real reason I have that resolution is to reinforce a habit. This habit is to spend as much of my time learning as possible.
This learning could come from the two hours per day I spend reading, the times where I write out my thoughts (like for this newsletter) and need to conduct follow-on research, or listening to podcasts. There are many different ways to learn and with an obsessive level of focus you can imagine how much I change on an annual basis.
After speaking with my wife about her inspirations for resolutions in 2019. I realized that she also didn’t want to slap some gimmicky title on her re-focusing efforts.
It’s always about the habits, never about the end result. If we stick to the habits, the end result is inevitable.
Commitment to the process is the only currency you need to invest into your new year resolutions. Most wont, but you can take this time to truly dive into what will make 2019 the most successful it can happen.
So there it is. Next steps? Deciding what you want to achieve in 2019...then figuring out what habits you need to implement to knock it out of the park.