...that's the title of a self-help book I've listened to recently that tries to help with keeping resolutions. Apparently, most people give up their New Year's resolutions soon after they make it. Here's the list of reasons the author, M.J. Ryan, gives why this happens:
10 Resolution Pitfalls
- Being vague about what you want
- Not making a serious commitment
- Procrastinating and excuse-making
- Unwilling to go through the awkward phase
- Not setting up a tracking and reminder system
- Expecting perfection, falling into guilt, shame, regret
- Trying to go it alone
- Telling yourself self-limiting rut stories
- Not having backup plans
- Turning slip-ups to give-ups
My particular problem with resolutions, that is, the reason I end up giving up, lies mainly in two things I think. The first and biggest reason is me being a bit of a perfectionist. The second is reason #10 or as this quote from the book demonstrates it: "Once I eat one cookie, I might as well eat the whole damn box." So, once I miss a chance to do something I'm supposed to (whether it was my fault or not), it becomes much easier to blow it off next time, and the next, and by the fourth time, I give up completely.
Listening to books like "This Year I Will" and "Eat That Frog!" helped me realize how unrealistic it is for anyone to reach goals perfectly the first time, and being OK in something and doing it is much better than wanting to be perfect and not doing it at all. (You would think that as a knitter, this would have sunk in by now, but maybe that's why I like knitting: I can always fix my mistakes to make things perfect.)
Reasons #6 and #10 are not the only reasons for failing in my resolutions, however. I'm also guilty of #3, #5, #9... and if I'm really honest, probably #2 and #4 as well. That's at least 7 out of the 10 pitfalls. Sheesh...
So this year I will try my best to stick to my resolutions. Hey, isn't that a resolution, too? Anyways, I have a plan. I really love making plans. Plans are fun, and puts things in order. The first step in my plan was to get an app on my phone to track my progress on building my habits. It reminds me of things I want to do, then keeps track of whether I did something or not, how many times in the past, and on what days. A good thing about this app is that I can put in my results for the day before (in case I forgot to do so), but not earlier than that, making using this app another habit that I can't cheat on.
As for the resolutions themselves, the one I'll share here is one I made last year, too:
As for the resolutions themselves, the one I'll share here is one I made last year, too:
To write 52 blogs in 52 weeks this year.
So here's to a New Year with new (and old) resolutions, and keeping them.
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