New Year’s Resolutions Are a Joke…

… But You Should Do Them Anyways

New Year’s resolutions are a joke… but we do them anyways. Why? This arbitrary day holds such power to motivate us into thinking that we can change many of our behaviors overnight, literally. The concept is great but the execution has much to be desired. If new years resolutions worked, the world would be full of rich & skinny people but quite the opposite is happening. People are more overweight, and in more debt, than ever.

You should resolve to improve yourself everyday including New Year’s, but not only on New Year’s.

Why are New Year’s Resolutions Failing?

The reason for the lack of success is due to the fact that most of the time, the only thing holding resolutions intact is the hope that “it will be different this year”. Changing your life requires retrofitting your routine, your mindset…your habits.

On top of that, once they have been broken, it is hard to get back on track and keep the momentum going. This is because no framework has been put in place to help maintain the desired actions. In fact, the only framework that has been setup until this point, was the one that allowed the bad habits to exist in the first place. So naturally, people fall back into their old ways.

Develop a Structure:

In order to make true change, you need to set up a structure in your life that supports your decision to change (beyond shear will power).

Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. -James Clear Atomic Habits

This structure needs to include goals but it cannot end with that. You need to have a system to track progress and hold yourself accountable. Before ever even thinking about starting, a strategy needs to be put in place that defines Who/What/Where/When/How and how you will track your progress.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax. – Abraham Lincoln

Start Small and Improve Every Day:

In many cases it is better to start small and build momentum slowly, in order to avoid becoming overwhelmed and stopping.

The Dave Ramsey debt snowball is credited with getting people out of debt quickly despite the fact that it is not the mathematically optimized method. If someone wanted to pay off their debt as efficiently as possible, they would follow the debt avalanche which prioritizes interest rates from highest to lowest. The debt snowball on the other hand, prioritizes debt size from smallest to largest (despite the amount of interest). The reason for this is purely due to psychology.  When someone sees the success of their smaller debts being paid off quickly, it gives them confidence. This confidence builds a deeper motivation and belief that they are able to achieve their goal. The momentum this brings will help drive the long-term game. Remember, the intent is to create a lifestyle change, not a quick hit list.