New Week’s Resolutions
A More Practical Gameplan For Gettin’ It Done
Last July, over a tub of Edy’s Slow Churned ice cream, I sulked.
See, halfway through the year, I realized I wasn’t making good on my new year’s resolutions: I hadn’t lost any weight, wasn’t sticking to my budgets, and wasn’t doing more writing like I’d wanted to.
I know you can relate. [This is the part where we hug and softly whisper “It’s okay” into each other’s ears.]
The truth is, New Year’s resolutions are supposed to make us feel excited, only to leave us feeling shitty. In fact, fancy statistics say 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail.
So what are we to do?
Take Things Week By Week
Rewind back to July again: To light a fire under my ass, I decided to take things week by week. Each Sunday, I’d set goals for the upcoming week (“New Week’s Resolutions,” if you will) and then check back in with myself the following weekend about how things went.
That first week, I committed to exercising twice, skipping Starbucks for two days, and writing just one Medium post. These were small, bite-sized goals I could pretty easily tackle in that week. And guess what, I did! And guess what else, it felt awesome!
So did I have a six-pack after that first week? Haha, no. Did I save hundreds in my bank account by making my own tea for two days of the week? Nope. Did I satisfy all my writing goals with that one Medium post? No.
But by taking things in smaller chunks, week by week, those baby steps eventually started adding up to something bigger. (Case in point: I’ve been doing all that writing I set out to do.) Plus, when I didn’t accomplish certain goals, I’d figure out what happened and retool for the next week. There was a quicker course-correction.
What this means for you…
- Give yourself a break. We’re all trying to figure out this beast called Life, so just know you’re not alone in this.
- Baby steps. Reframe your lofty, year-long goals into smaller chunks you can handle on a weekly basis.
- Do, fail, and retool. What I like about weekly resolutions is you get to check in with yourself more often. It lets you take inventory of what worked, what didn’t, and how to retool to kick more ass the next week.
By no means do I completely have my shit together. But I can say I now feel a lot more confident when it comes to tackling my goals. And confidence is sexy, so yeah.
