Effective New Year’s Resolutions
My Thoughts on New Year’s Resolutions
Many people make New Year’s resolutions. A lot of them becomes useless because majority of the people never keep their resolutions past March. Also, I’m not so keen on this whole New Year’s resolution thing. Why slack off and wait till January 1st to start working towards your goals? You can start any time.
How to Set Your Resolutions
When most people create their resolutions, they say general statements. They might say, “I want to lose weight,” “I want to make more money,” “I want to be a better husband,” and so on. These are good resolutions. But they need a sense of direction. They need to create a plan instead of making general statements. But when they do create a plan, it is also general. For example they might say, “I’ll lose weight by going to the gym,” or “I’ll make more money by working harder.”
What you need to do is make general statements and break it down by creating a specific, realistic plan to achieve them. You can set a time frame or not. But it doesn’t have to take a year. It can take 2 years, 3 years, 10 years, or it can be a lifelong process. Once you set the plan, focus on implementing your plan. Don’t worry about your end goal. The more you focus on the journey and not the end, it will be less stressful—and maybe even more enjoyable.
Some of My “New Year’s” Resolutions
So to give an example, I decided to share four of my resolutions to you.
1. I want to get more physically fit. I’m going to exercise 3-4 times a week, at least 30 minutes a day. I’m going to do a lot of body-work type exercises like taijiquan, yoga, qigong, etc. At odd times, I’m going to do cardio training such as running or swimming. This is something that’s a life-long process. I do hope to get stronger though.
2. I want to increase my net worth. I’m going to max out my 401k and my Roth IRA. In addition to that, I’m going to automatically save and invest about 10-13% of my salary. For my investments, I’m going to be patient and not be too emotionally driven when picking my investments.
Then I’m going to reduce my expenses by moving closer to work so I can save gas money. My rent is going to stay roughly the same. I’m also going to cook more often instead of going out to eat so much. I’m also going to take advantage of my company’s disability insurance benefit instead of paying for my own.
3. I want to communicate more effectively. I’m going to do this by talking louder so people can hear me clearly the first time. I’m also going to give more details instead of being too blunt. In addition, I’m going to self-disclose more when talking to other people. I’ll also try not to be project too many negative emotions—such as anger, tiredness, sadness, etc.—when talking to people.
4. I want to improve my blogs. I’m going to give more love to other bloggers by linking to them often. I want to share lot of high-quality articles written by other bloggers. I want to see them as inspirations not as competition. In addition, I’m going to read more (not just blogs) high quality articles from established authors to improve my overall writing quality.
I’m also going to write more often. And I’m going to edit as much as possible before publishing the article. I also want to reply to majority of my commentors and establish some sort of relationship with them. Hopefully my unique visitors will increase by 50% by the year’s end.
Stumble it!
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
You have a nice blog. Your concern for environment is commendable. I will visit again.
Do visit my blog. You may find it interesting.
Murali
Hello! I am here because I am your neighbor on the Entrecard all cards page. I am pleased to be in such good company.
Self improvement is important. Thanks for the positive words.
Hey JC,
I agree completely that most people don’t keep their resolutions because they set poor goals in general. They aren’t specific or sometimes not realistic. I think the problem is that goals should be a ongoing process in one’s life, not just a flash in the pan come Jan. 1st.
I would also add that it helps to make goals that address specific areas of your life like finance, family, body, etc. If you want to check out what I wrote on this topic the link is:
http://www.schaefersblog.com/balance-the-new-way-to-make-and-keep-your-new-years-resolutions/
Why not lift heavy weights to get stronger?