Remove The Word Resolution From Your Life. Make Them Projects.

Another way to describe goal settings

Resolutions; a sort of goal, with the focus on improving your life, mainly health-related, which is done only every new year for which failure is so frequent, it became a “meme” and a joke.

Failed resolutions are so frequent and we still wonder why it “doesn’t work” and why people keep failing their commitment with themselves. I would suggest that the failure to commit to a resolution is not even the problem rather the mindset around it, is. Most of the time, what it seems to be a problem is actually not. It’s mostly a matter of mindset and perception rather than one of behavior.

I see two ways you can go about your goal and self-improvement. The first one is about “goal setting”. Meaning fixing a specific date where you must achieve a certain goal (or objective). It’s a “one-time” thing that you complete and never thinks again after. The second one is “on-going goal” which only really stop when you die. That’s the day-to-day behaviors. The habits. That’s what is considered the boring and annoying stuff.

The main problems with “resolutions” are the focus on “do it one-time and it’s done” and the “once a year we change our life” type of mindset.

First of all, the begin of the year is not necessarily the best time to start anything. Actually, you can start a goal anything you want, but by a measure of having a specific date, it could be each new season, each month, etc. You can begin projects in your life anytime you want, but the resolution mindset limits possible change drastically by having it done once a year.

Second, a resolution, which tends to focus on behavior change, will go sideways if you approach it as one specific goal. Meaning: “when it’s done, it’s done”, and if you don’t have the habit to look for a new goal (or if you wait until the next year), nothing really is going to change. Once you achieve the lose-100-pounds-goal, then you don’t have to do anything, but behavior change is also a lifestyle change meaning it must be done every single day.

That’s why I ditch the resolutions and start calling them Projects. Functionally there is not much difference, between projects, goals, objectives, or resolutions. The main difference, in my opinion, it’s the perception it created. Projects can be started anytime you want. Projects are more concrete and actionable. Projects provide a sense of continuity as you need to work on it continually. Projects can be divided into sub-projects I called “to-do’s” (yes I know very original) which are actionable and clear steps toward completing the project. And it can be “one-time” project as much as it can be an “on-going” projects which act like a habit (or lifestyle).

It seems to me also that goals are too personal compare to projects.
A goal seems to be fundamentally related to your personality; it’s something you need to achieve or to change in your life.
A project is external and manageable; it’s just something you do. It is something you do rather than something you are. The impact of failure is less dramatic, impactful, and personal which will make it more manageable and actionable than a traditional goal.

As Scott Adams points out explaining the difference between goal and system, which I call project in my case:

Goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous presuccess failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things never work out. System people succeed everyt ime they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intented to do.

One of my one-time projects is to get a job after I finish my bachelor. The to-do is to update my CV, sent it to more than 25 companies which I would like to work, and the do the interview with the one who is interested. I have until the end the semester to do that.

One of my on-going lifestyle projects is waking up around 6–7 am every morning, make a coffee, and write for 1 to 2 hours. I do this because I’m always tired, not motivated in the evening, and I just never manage to anything productive late at night. So I set up my schedule in order to actually to work and enjoy writing.

In the end, I know they are just words, but words do create perception and meaning depending on the context and the way you use it.