2008 Woodie Awards
Pondering New Year's resolutions
Deborah Merrill
Issue date: 1/15/04 Section: Opinion
In a country where we each like to think of ourselves as unique individuals, my own attempt to come up with a set of truly original New Year's resolutions every year stands out as proof that DNA is indeed 99.9% shared between humans and monkeys.
From year to year, my lists are remarkably similar. I have heard from others that they also have this problem. As a result they have just thrown up their hands in disgust and given up on resolutions altogether.
So, I thought that it might be a more or less public service if I tried to help others out with the exercise as I sort it out myself.
It occurs to me that the reason we never get our resolutions accomplished isn't that my (or your) resolutions are lame or unachievable, its just that I haven't ever put them in a schedule. Experts tell us that goals must be time-specific, with measurable results.
That's it: if I would just assign a date and time, and maybe how long it will take me to do them, that would work much better. So, this year I have completed my work in record time because I didn't have to sit around and think of new resolutions.
Thinking up the resolutions is always the worse part anyway, because coming up with new resolutions makes you confront two negative facts about yourself: one, if you need to do this thing it means you didn't do it last year when you probably also had it on your resolution list.
Two, each resolution is in some ways an announcement that "In this particular part of life, I need to recognize that I am a loser," doesn't it? Don't agree? Okay, how many of you make your list of resolutions and then post it on your front door so your friends can see it? ("Oh, look, Bob is hoping to floss after meals again this year.")
Again, experts tell us that your chances improve markedly when you make your goals public among a few people who can support and encourage (and goad) you.
So, I skipped coming up with new resolutions and decided to simply calendar my old resolutions. I recognize that my hurdle to accomplishing these is not a lack of willpower, not a lack of resolve or character. No, the reason that these keep floating around each January 1 is because I didn't have time to do them. And I didn't have time because they weren't on my calendar.
From year to year, my lists are remarkably similar. I have heard from others that they also have this problem. As a result they have just thrown up their hands in disgust and given up on resolutions altogether.
So, I thought that it might be a more or less public service if I tried to help others out with the exercise as I sort it out myself.
It occurs to me that the reason we never get our resolutions accomplished isn't that my (or your) resolutions are lame or unachievable, its just that I haven't ever put them in a schedule. Experts tell us that goals must be time-specific, with measurable results.
That's it: if I would just assign a date and time, and maybe how long it will take me to do them, that would work much better. So, this year I have completed my work in record time because I didn't have to sit around and think of new resolutions.
Thinking up the resolutions is always the worse part anyway, because coming up with new resolutions makes you confront two negative facts about yourself: one, if you need to do this thing it means you didn't do it last year when you probably also had it on your resolution list.
Two, each resolution is in some ways an announcement that "In this particular part of life, I need to recognize that I am a loser," doesn't it? Don't agree? Okay, how many of you make your list of resolutions and then post it on your front door so your friends can see it? ("Oh, look, Bob is hoping to floss after meals again this year.")
Again, experts tell us that your chances improve markedly when you make your goals public among a few people who can support and encourage (and goad) you.
So, I skipped coming up with new resolutions and decided to simply calendar my old resolutions. I recognize that my hurdle to accomplishing these is not a lack of willpower, not a lack of resolve or character. No, the reason that these keep floating around each January 1 is because I didn't have time to do them. And I didn't have time because they weren't on my calendar.