Why I Don't Do New Year's Resolutions.
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I don't do the New Year's Resolution thing. When one realizes something that needs to be done, the present time is the time to begin planning and executing, not to lump it all at one particular time of the year.
Too many people create that list, and it looks novel and like something, by social convention, we're supposed to do and that goals are just something you do at a particular time of the year, when everybody does this.
It's almost like being in some of those western-style saloons, the ones that sport the mechanical bull you get on and try to stay on it - and you've got people egging you on to get on it, and you're a wussy if you don't. Someone asks you, "Well, what's on YOUR New Year's Resolution list?...What!? You don't have one? What's the matter for you!"
If I happen to start something on New Year's Day, it's only by co-incidence that this happened to fall on that day - or just before, or just after - or in the middle of July!
People do this because it is customary and as regular as Christmas or Halloween (or any other yearly thing.) It has no more significance than the yearly wait to see if the groundhog will come up out of his borrow so to know if winter is getting over at that time or not (however, not to get the groundhog wet, but that is definitely HOG wash!), or the stupid ball drops at Times Square. (One day I'd love to see it let go and CRASH down - now that would be a sight to see!.)
The thing is, the most counter-productive thing about New Year's resolutions is that people pile all these things upon themselves, often too much to handle and this leads to discouragement as soon as massive lagging begins to occur. As one other member rightly brought up, many times, the kind of resolutions people put on those lists are not even best done in the winter!
New Year Resolutions Can Be Beneficial Sometimes:
- People successfully-completing their resolution: 8%
- People partially successful in completing their resolution 49%
- People who fail miserably at their resolutions: 24%
- People who do these resolutions are 10-times more likely to improve than those that don't. It's not that it's a set of New Year resolutions but that these are still goals, and this is the nature of goals. It's just that there ARE better ways to go about goals! Most of the fault in the failure rate of these are not that they're done on this day, but that with little thought put into it, people tend to put too many items on the list! Done right, a New Year resolution can be just as effective as any other goal if done properly. The big problem is, most people don't!
Part of Consumer Mentality
Not to cause offense here, but in my opinion, New Year's resolution-keeping is one of the dumbest ways to handle life's goals. We don't need a time of the year to remind us to keep goals, though for some, it may be a time of learning about the importance of goals in life. Anyone with some knowledge about success, and how to go about it, knows that timeliness and planning is the way to go about goals, not cramming them into one list and expecting ourselves to carry this nonsense out! [I will say that composing such a list isn't a bad thing if one were to put them in order by priority and then start the most important one (or two) and having the rest in "pending" status. This is what I do with my on-going Daily Checklists. These checklists are on-going and evolve as things come and go.]
When I say "nonsense" I don't mean the carrying out of important things in one's life that should be done, it's the manner in which it is approached and attempted - it's a pretty dumb way to go about goals (trying to do everything at the same time) - and the fact that we need a holiday to remind us to do this - AND that this is something you do at this designated time of the year - because that's the popular way to do it and everybody does it. Consider the following...
Entrepreneurs don't wait until a single time of the year to make improvements needed, but it's an on-going thing. However, consumers doing their goals the New Year's resolution-way is widespread. How entrepreneurs do it should be the model on exactly how we do our work here on Wealthy Affiliate and in our campaigns - and with everything in life. Note that Kyle & Carson don't make New Year's resolutions with regard to updating this platform, nor with their businesses. Neither does Google, Amazon, nor any other wildly-successful business! Do not like the masses or you will get what the masses get!
I do what I can do, when I can do it, and NEVER punish myself by heaping that list of New Year's Resolutions upon myself, wait for that day, bragging about what I've got on my list! I don't care what anybody things about me not doing it, or how I feel about it. That's what the whole year is for and New Year's Day is just one of those days and has the same bearing as any other day in starting goals.
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New Year's resolutions are just that; resolutions. It does not mean that is defined as:
noun
1.
a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group.
Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.
2.
the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.
3.
a resolve; a decision or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
Her resolution to clear her parents' name allowed her no other focus in life.
4.
the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose:
She showed her resolution by not attending the meeting.
5.
the act or process of resolving or separating something into constituent or elementary parts.
6.
the resulting state.
7.
Optics. the act, process, or capability of distinguishing between two separate but adjacent objects or sources of light or between two nearly equal wavelengths.
...All of which indicate that an intention of doing something or a declaration that it is done.
I propose we really get serious about our resolutions or do not make them.
Mickeyb
If there were a way, I'd give you about five or more like for this one!
I propose then, is that where the real problem lies, is that resolutions are mistaken for goals, and as you say, declarations are what should be made, and this is usually done sometimes well before New Years Day. People, having this list (which is a list of resolutions) is then, not really New Year resolutions, but done on the date before New Year's Day. What I'm saying here, if this makes any sense, is that what happens on New Year's day is more properly called, New Year Startup of Goals, because that's what people do, and is where the cramming takes place.
I never really thought about this until you've brought this up. Thank you for the definitions! This is very interesting.
If these declarations, plans, what-have-you, i.e. the list, was composed on New Years Day, they would then be truly New Year Resolutions, because the list and considerations were done on that day.
The whole thing is all messed up!
You bring up an awesome point and a wrench into the works LOL!
I know I'm being technical about this, but does it make sense?
However, technicalities aside, creating the list and calling it "New Year Resolutions" is perfectly fine if it does better than just list stuff to be started on New Year's Day, like these are customarily done. They are declarations, which includes reasonable plans with each item, such as "Lose weight." It would be When to start, along with a plan on doing so, sometime within the year, and the same with everything else on the list. If it is a long list, some things should be marked "tentative" or "TBA." The idea here comes back to my basic argument - these don't work because folks try to start the entire list of things to be done at once, at the first of the year, and call THIS resolutions. No. Resolutions and the actual goals themselves are two different things!
Again - great addition to this thread! Thank you :)
1ne: You are very welcome for all of the nice things you said about my comment.
2wo: A goal (resolution) without a plan is just a dream.
Mickeyb
1ne: You are very welcome for all of the nice things you said about my comment.
2wo: A goal (resolution) without a plan is just a dream.
Mickeyb
Which brings up the other problem that happens with a certain percent of folks who make out these lists - they never get done - and for a much larger percentage besides, they were poorly, or not planned out at all, which leads to work on the actual goals being done, however, because the planning wasn't there, accounts for the high percentage of uncompleted attempts.
Actually, they are not. Resolutions are only the declarations of proposed goals. This is where this whole thing gets messed up. I thought myself that resolutions were the actual goals [being carried out,] but they, in another word, are nothing but proposals, or the plans for the goal. I thought this way, thinking that the completion of a goal would be the resolution of the thing completed, i.e. "the problem has been resolved." and not resolution, meaning "the goal itself has been proposed."
That's basically how I do it, but I do try to get a certain amount done each day. If I don't make it, it's not a big deal, I just put "progress" for that item on the checklist. If I make it, it's "Done." If I don't get to it, it's "Undone."
Even when it doesn't seem productive, or it's even counter-productive, I plod my way through it because in the long run, it adds up.
If I didn't have the checklist system I use today (which I built myself over the last several years,) I'd still be up to my neck in clutter! As it is now, I've effectively removed a lot of obstacles!
Heya Daniel, I thought I'd return the favor and comment on your post.
I don't think people achieve their resolutions so they can brag about it - it is because they feel that they have achieved a feat that they have never done before but have always wanted to do - like an obese person wanting to lose 40kgs this year, or a disabled person wanting to climb Mt Everest...people have different resolutions. Mine here in WA are simple compared to other New Year resolutions, but it's an aim for me to make the time and do better here...and hey, since I've already written a post, replied to comments and have now joined your discussion, I can pretty much say that I'm on a roll...and it's not even New Years yet lol..
But everyone to their own I guess...cheers!
Some people do brag about what they're about to do, and I guess what I'm getting at is that they do, but then don't achieve the goals.
Yes, people do this with the right intent, though they don't consider the effects of doing too much at once.
People also do this, not really wanting to go through the work involved. They know they need to do it, but but then, this is one of the reasons why they don't get results and I have expressed this as being half-hearted. But they make out their lists because that's what they're "supposed" to do.
The idea of goals and implementing them are awesome! That being ANY time of the year, including New Year's Day. Some people go about it with full intent and a real commitment to acquiring the results they are after. However, the statistics show that most don't get these results - and a few do!
The way this event is carried out by most people is not good. One below made the point that it is a good time to organize goals. Again, I can see that being done any time of the year, but the fact that there is a new year coming, it can be a good time to make resolutions. To me, resolutions are statements. I think this is where mistakes occur. I have resolved that I will, over the course of the year, bring about what I have on my list. What goes awry is people trying to do too much at once, even if it is one thing! Losing weight for someone who is terribly obese is going to take a long time. This is something that should not be rushed and is in fact unhealthy.
I guess what I'm really getting at with this, is that many people jump into this without giving it proper assessment and "doing it right." Yes, some do achieve their goals, and that is because they know about goal-keeping and how it needs to be done.
I see this going on, and it's a big circus. It's sad so many people don't get desired results, and it's usually because they don't know what they're getting into despite good intent, and think that this is the only time goals are set. I think it's only one of those times. A good time to make resolutions indeed, but the goals associated with them should NEVER be all started at once. Losing weight is one thing. Trying to do that - and this - and those, and these other things as well, will cause overload! I keep a daily checklist. I've been doing this for well over three years. I use it to make sure the dailies get done, important events and appointments don't get missed, things get paid on time, and is also where I propose new goals, and through a series of checklists that go with a goal, play them all out until that goal has been reached!
I have used this method to get myself out of very bad conditions, and am using it to take out a large number of obligations and projects I've started and got myself overwhelmed with. The first thing I found in doing this is that it is far best to work out one, maybe two goals at a time!
Again, I don't doubt that this can be a person's first encounter with setting up and working through goals, but in the overall, using the season as THE one-time window to getting needful things done is extremely limited. As I write more about this, I hope I'm getting my point out and ironing down the perhaps rough treatment of the topic I gave it in the article.
Thanks for coming over here. I did make sure people coming over here would return back and is the right thing to do here.
I hope yours is a fully-successful year!
I agree with you how we shouldnt bundle all our goals into one day, though you shouldn't do that on any days. You should have 2 goals, an audacious goal and small attainable goals.
However I disagree on not making use of the new year to organize those goals. The start of a new year is a great time to review all those goals and get ready for next year.
I agree. As I have said to Allan below, and I have mentioned it above in what I wrote - in so many words, that it is one of 365 days. Your first paragraph is essentially what I was saying above. Organization is one thing. Trying to do it all at once is another, and is the highlight of what causes failure. It's the same thing as just starting to learn online marketing - and what happens a lot of times? I've done it myself big time! Put up too many websites and wonder why it's not working!
It's not the using the day to set goals, like you've said - but that people use this time of the year to do that which they should be doing throughout. It would be a good time to organize goals, but where it goes wrong is in trying to start them all at once, which is how people do it.
I'm no big holiday fan, but I do realize the family times that they are and participate in that myself. They provide recesses from daily life. They provide a break, though I usually do work through them with some time off. To me, some of the stuff that gets done is futile, others are not. When the first of the year comes, a lot of economic things must be closed out, and new ones started. To me, these are not New Year's resolutions. They're business.
I try to reflect on what needs to be done in my life to make things better and bring about improvements. That occurs all year. I keep daily checklists. I have for a long time and is how I've moved up to where I am now.
New Years is a fun time. It's a novel time. I see the resolutions the same way, though you are right. it is a reminder about keeping goals. It should not stop there.
Making resolutions, whether on New Year's Eve or at other times during the year, is essential in planning and goal-setting. You are entitled to your opinion, of course, that it "is one of the dumbest ways to handle life's goals." However, I believe it is not your job to express (vent) your feelings toward those that like this tradition. The bottom line is that you seem angry, and perhaps a little arrogant.
As you were writing your response, I was adding more to the blog. In the middle of the blog is the piece I have added. Yes, to me, that is my feeling about it. Can there be success with doing it according to tradition? Yes, but the success rate is pretty low, it CAN be done, as you say, if done properly. I am sorry this offended you, and no. I am not angry about this nor am I trying to be arrogant. In many ways, I tend to see life very differently and am expected to keep it to myself. That isn't fair. The blog is meant to help, not put down. That saying refers to the method, not people who do it.
A lot of people reserve this time of the year to carry out goals. A few do pull through but most don't get the desired results, and about one-fourth, no results at all.
I have been challenged why I don't have a New Year resolution, that this is something I should have. I've gotten this more than once over the years. It is why I expressed it here. I do set up, keep goals and am usually successful at completing them. I also realize that there are prerequisites. Some things need to be done first. Some goals need to be broken down into smaller goals. Putting business goals into New Year resolutions (the way people usually do these) isn't smart. These should be carried out regularly. Lose weight? Stop smoking? That's a little better, but many times, people use the event to make excuses in being able to continue their vice before that day arrives when they, by matter of commitment, must begin - and often, but not always so, half-hearted.
Thanks for the expedient reply. I was not offended, but rather just feeling your frustration with this issue. I try not to focus on the things others choose to do, because I know that some of my choices have at times taken me down a difficult road.
I hope you have a great new year, in your business and personal life journeys.
Sometimes blazing trails bring on some serious issues. I know that for a fact.
Things are looking up and I expect a better year in 2017 as I knock out a lot of things that have been holding me back, and in hopes that this stuff closes out within the next two months.
Have a happy New Year!
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There is sense in what you say. Let's learn to prioritize our GOALS
If this were done, and they were carried out in a logical order, not only in priority, but in capability as well, that is, how much can comfortably be done without overloading, no matter what time of the year, including New Year's Day, is perfectly without fault.
Very interestingly however, MickeyB123 above sheds a whole new light on this problem. People are getting "resolutions" and "goals" mixed up. New Year Resolutions should be a collection of declarations, NOT the goals themselves! These should be meted out over the course of the year, not all at the beginning! The resolution list should be a planned out set of declarations.