Resolutions Shouldn’t Be a Sprint to the Finish

Approaching your new year resolutions slowly has its benefits.

It’s that time again — new year, new you!

Every year we wait for the calendar to give us a reason to put a resolution into action. In September when we think, “I wish I spent more time with my family and friends,” we end up just pushing it off to the new year so it can be a “start fresh” rather than making the change today.

Maybe we’re scared, or perhaps we’re just lazy, and the next year feels far enough away that it’s not really a commitment. And then December leaves the party without saying goodbye, and January shows up, and everyone’s like, “Oh shit! It really happened! A new year is here; I can finally be that person I’ve always wanted to be.”

The funny part is that only about 8 percent of people are successful in achieving their New Year’s resolution, according to an Inc. article from 2019. That means 92% of people are setting goals that aren’t realistic for them. Perhaps culturally, we’re too blindly supportive instead of constructive. For example, when someone shares their resolution, say, “This year I’m going to drink more water,” instead of complimenting them on their great potential achievement, the person on the receiving end could respond with “That’s great! How do you plan to do it?” Maybe then, the resolved person might say, “I’m going to leave a glass of water by my bed every night and drink it first thing when I wake up in the morning.” Drinking a glass of water every morning is a lot more realistic than drinking more water.

While some people who’ve never worked out will run that marathon, make it onto American Idol, or finally take that class they’ve been eyeing for years, the majority of people just want to make this year better than the last. To those people, here are some common resolutions, broken down into more doable pieces:

1. Get Fit

You don’t need to become a Ninja Warrior to be “fit” if fit means healthy. Frankly, you don’t even need to be a member of OrangeTheory, Barry’s, PowerCore, or any of the many others out there to get in shape. You need to find a type of exercise that you enjoy, that’s easy to get to, and that fits into your schedule in a way that you can commit to consistently.

To make working out as easy as possible for me, I decided to bring my health in-house about three years ago. I created a workout space at home using some inexpensive gym mats I bought from Amazon to muffle the sounds of jumping or running in place and downloaded the DailyBurn app. This article is not an #ad — you could use any online exercise class subscription — but I really love DailyBurn and highly recommend it. A $15/month subscription gets me a new workout every single day, ranging from cardio kickboxing to strength training (with or without weights) to yoga and more, plus a library of training programs (enjoyment). I roll out of bed as soon as my alarm goes off in the morning (schedule) and crawl over to my workout space half-asleep (easy to get to).

The benefits are:

• It starts my day off better than a cup of coffee
• I’ve taken fewer sick days (not proven, but correlates. Eight hours of sleep each night helps too.)
• It reduces my stress baseline for the day

The Bottom Line

Thirty minutes of moderate exercise five days a week is enough. The point is not to Hulk out but to just move around and get your heart rate up. Even things like walking the dog for 30 minutes, cleaning your bathroom, or doing sit-ups while watching your favorite talk show all count. Give yourself a resolution break and commit to being active.

Other Exercises You Can Do Anywhere:

• Nike Training Club (Free iOS | Android)
• Down Dog (Subscription iOS | Android)
• 7-Minute Workout (Video)

2. Read More

Book challenges are a thing. Frankly, I’m just impressed with myself if I finish a book without needing to renew it at the library, so committing to reading a certain number of books over the year feels incredibly daunting. I’ve also yet to have a positive experience with a full-on book club — they’re either too rigid, or no one reads the book.

What has worked for me though, is having a reading buddy — like a mini-book club for two. My reading buddy and I pick a book each month and then get together for coffee, brunch, or drinks while we catch up and discuss the book. It helps that we’re both equally as interested in hanging out with each other as we are about reading and talking about the books that we’ve read.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need to pick a specific number of books unless setting a quantifiable goal is helpful to you. If you’re looking to read more than you did last year, find an accountability partner. Reading a book isn’t an urgent activity, but knowing that you’ve made a commitment to a person, not a group, makes for good motivation.

Other Communities You Can Join:

• Book of the Month Club (Subscription)
• Girls Night In (Newsletter)
• 14 Online Book Clubs You Can Join Right Now (Article)
• DC Library (Or your local library. Did you know most libraries also allow you to borrow audiobooks? Not all books are available, but the apps are usually easy to use and may help you save some $$).

3. Try something new.

Make a bucket list and tell yourself you’ll do at least ONE of those things by the end of the year. That way, when a free weekend comes up and you’re looking for something to do, you can turn to this list for inspiration. Chances are after you’ve done that one thing, you’ll realize how good it felt and will be more inclined to do another.

You may want to share this list with another person or people who can help to motivate you. Similar to the book club, there’s a level of accountability here that works better when other people are looped into the process.

The Bottom Line

The new thing that you do doesn’t have to be groundbreaking. It should be something that you want to do, isn’t cost-prohibitive, and is accessible to you. Thinking through a list of things you want to do in advance and figuring out which ones are easy vs. require more planning will set you up to seize the moment when it arises.

Things to try:

• A cooking class (Sur La Table, Williams Sonoma, or browse on Eventbrite for local-specific opportunities)
• A new restaurant or an old restaurant that’s still on a list of popular places in your city
• A new craft (Bluprint, Skillshare)

The Bottom-Bottom Line

Resolutions don’t work if they’re not realistic for you. Try little routine swaps instead of total overhauls to make improvements and build new habits. For more on this approach, check out Make Time, The Power of Habit, and The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

If you’re more of a visual/audio learner, check out this video.