Stoic Advice on New Year's Resolutions

Every year millions of people set New Year’s resolutions. Most fail.

They don’t set the right goals. They aren’t realistic. They don’t have the systems in place to succeed.

Here are three ways you can ensure you avoid these outcomes.

Choose Important Goals

First, you want to set the right goal. There are thousands of potential goals you could choose. From exercise to learning a new language from reading more to using social media less. Choosing what to do is no trivial matter. Some goals are much better than others. So where do you start?

Consider Epictetus question:

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.

Instead of starting from an activity, ask yourself who you want to be. Not who you want to be seen as, but what character do you want to have? What virtues do you want to cultivate? These are non-trivial questions. Set time aside to answer them.

Once you have a better sense of who you want to be, then move to constructing your goals.

Set Goals Well

Epictetus reminds us:

If you do not wish to be prone to anger, do not feed the habit; give it nothing which may tend to…