Episode #113 Stop Making Resolutions

Seven Problems

• We often postpone healthy choices for tomorrow even though they could create positive results today.
• Our goals are typically far too generic to motivate us to achieve them.
• The primary reason we don’t achieve our goals is because we give up too soon.
• We will not reverse a lifetime of choices with a single week of effort.
• If we procrastinate a decision to a later date, we probably aren’t that committed to the dream in the first place.
• We typically quit our resolutions quietly and subtly without intentionally deciding to quit them.
• Two weeks into the New Year, we often reassign our resolutions to the following January 1st.

Five Principles

• The way we spend our time points to whatever is most important to us.
• We are more likely to achieve our goal if we share it with someone, and we are most likely to achieve our goal if we invite someone to pursue it with us.
• Sometimes the most important goal we can make is to sustain the difficult choices we are already in the habit of making.
• Whatever we do for 21 days becomes a habit, and whatever we do for 90 days becomes a lifestyle.
• Our most important goals in life typically require more time and effort than we anticipate.

Three Practices

• Change the start date of your New Year’s resolution to December 1st – or better yet, today.
• Replace your resolutions with decisions, and couple each goal with daily choices.
• If you can’t imagine pursuing a goal in a specific way for the rest of your life, consider how to make it more sustainable.