Many of us don’t, but most of us do. That annual “promise” to oneself to lose it, grow it, change it, stop it, start it, learn it, see it…

I’m in that “many of us don’t” category.

Question: Are resolutions just for that year? Do they expire? Does December 31st come, and you’re like, Okay, enough with being timely. Starting tomorrow, tardiness rules!?

Just asking.

Nothing wrong with New Year’s Resolutions (NYRs); they’re good motivators for renewal to coincide with a new year. Being sans serif and all, I typically don’t make NYRs, but (being privy to others’ numerous annual decrees) I’ve noted a key factor that would improve their success.

Common New Year’s Resolutions (NYRs)

Like Bucket Lists, New Year’s Resolutions itemize elements of some personal dream to better oneself. But unlike Bucket Lists, NYRs tend to be generalized and not quantifiable or measurable—a key to its success. Here are some of the most common resolutions and what would deem them more measurable (and maybe more likely kept):

• Lose Weight (How many pounds?)
• Travel more (Travel where? Locally? Nationally? Overseas?)
• Be more organized (At home? at the office? This needs a starting point.)
• Exercise more (“More” suggests one is already exercising. So, exercise longer? More intensely?)
• Drink less alcohol (Drinks per week? Bottles per month?)
• Save money (How much money?)
• Spend less money (see “Save money”)
• Learn something new (Honestly, this is something people do every day (surely, you’ve heard the expression), but learn what? A new language? How to cook? The “new” math?)
• Write a book (Easier said than done—believe Fiction? Non? Consider the genre, which would at least give an approximate length. Or maybe resolve to write a few chapters of a book—and they don’t even have to be the first chapters!)
• Reduce stress (Part of your stress could come from worrying over these resolutions. 😉)

Pounds and Piggies

So, nail down any generalized resolutions to something specific you can “see” and check-off, and you’re ahead of the game. And “moving” or “bite-sized” resolutions are even better. Moving resolutions can be shifted throughout the year and still be attainable. Bite-sized resolutions, as the name implies, are smaller and more manageable.

For example, for weight loss NYRs, resolve to lose 5 pounds each month (which is healthy, reasonable, and manageable), rather than “thirty pounds by spring.” In line with this thinking, you’d lose 60 pounds by December—twice your springtime goal and a bonus if you wanted to lose more.

Maybe the resolution is saving money. Resolve to put that figurative daily-cup-of-java money in a see-through “piggy” bank. Watch it grow, filling with coins and bills—see that you’re doing the damn thing (instead of embracing some abstract concept of saving that’s only in your head). But keep those savings in the “piggy.” Don’t deposit it; not yet. Watching money literally “grow” is hugely satisfying—and motivating.

Whether you make New Year’s resolutions is unimportant in the grand scheme, but depending on your make-up, that list (big or small) can be the source of a year’s worth of joy…or pain.

Until next time, stay serif, be safe, read on, and work those NYRs.

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