New Year’s Resolutions Are Worthless
New year’s resolutions are worthless. Unless you lay out the plan for achieving your goals, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment and frustration.
Truth is, setting up a solid plan for achieving your goals is not easy. I know that… very well. One of the main reasons that compelled me to write this was having that exact problem. Every year, I use this “socially acceptable season” to think about goals for the next year. Every year, I commit to a few things. I dubbed 2010 Operation: Action (following a weak attempt at Operation: Focus in 2009). How much did I get done? Not much other than stress about not achieving those goals.
So don’t just set goals: make plans.
Incorrect: “In 2011 I want to lose 15 pounds.”
Still incorrect: “In 2011, I’ll sign up for a gym membership so I can lose 15 pounds.”
Correct: “In 2011, I’ll sign up for a gym membership and work out at least twice a week, no exceptions, so I can lose 15 pounds as soon as possible.”
Incorrect: “In 2011 I will redesign my site.”
Still incorrect: “In 2011, I’ll buy a book about design so I can learn how to redesign my site.”
Correct: “In 2011, I’ll buy a book about design, and spend at least 6h a week redesigning my site, learning along the way.”
Incorrect: “In 2011, I will learn Ruby on Rails.”
Still incorrect: “In 2011, I’ll subscribe to Railscasts/Peepcode/whatever and learn Ruby on Rails.”
Correct: “In 2011, I’ll commit to spending at least 10 hours per week working on an idea I’ve had about a web application, using Ruby on Rails, watching screencasts and reading books along the way.”
On all these examples, I could’ve set a deadline. On all of them, deadlines wouldn’t make a difference if you’re struggling with getting things done. Focus on delineating a daily/weekly plan of how you intend to achieve those goals. If you stick to that plan, reasonably factoring normal life unexpected situations, you will achieve your goals in reasonable time, you’ll have a blast learning new things and you’ll feel overall more motivated and happy.
In conclusion, I’m writing this primarily to myself. I need to get away from New Year Resolutions and focus on monthly reviews of my goals and plans of how to achieve them, and I think you should do the same. Besides, any day is a good “resolution’s day”. Just set/plan and then review/iterate.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Feel free to reply on Twitter or comment on this Hacker News thread. Upvotes/retweets are always welcome… ;)
Oh, and happy New Year everyone. :)
