I kind of resolved not to make any real resolutions this year. Part of this is because my dark side sometimes gets the sense that my fate is sealed, so why bother? The other part is just that, with me, resolutions are generally things I think up on the first day of the year and forget by the third day of the year. I’m more of a ‘take it day by day’ kind of person. So the only idea for a resolution that I had this year was to make *daily* and *weekly* resolutions.
For example, I recently quit smoking (yes, again) and I know that every morning when I wake up I have to resolve not to smoke for yet another whole day. Another example is from last week, when I made it my goal to get a project to a point where others could do something with it, which I did – 5 minutes before leaving on the last day of the week – but I did it. The point is, I do a whole lot better, and am a lot more productive, when I take the first hour of my day and set goals for myself to accomplish. This idea doesn’t scale much past a week though, so to make a resolution beyond a week is, to me, just kidding yourself.
Ever try to follow through on a monthly goal? I’ve never made it past a weekly one. Oh sure, I’ve had long term projects and accomplished them over the period of many months, but I never looked at it that as a monthly goal, really. That’s senseless. I break them down and accomplish the weekly goals that lead to the end goal.
Let’s face it, making a resolution that you’re supposed to stick to for 365 days is just downright intimidating. I can’t believe anyone ever sticks to them. I never have. That’s a large feat when looked at from afar. For my brain, it’s better if I break things down into smaller tasks.