Resolutions

So, I should have written this post last month, but I didn't. There's a resolution I need to work on. I like the new way I'm doing resolutions this year. The past few years I've tried to review if I worked toward a resolution or not every so often, and this year I'm still doing that, but I'm also not setting as many goals to meet, but things to work on. At the end of the year I'll review, like I do every year, but instead of checking off whether I did it or not, I'll rate myself on how well I did it.

For instance, because right now I'm terrible about going to bed at a decent hour, I have a resolution to "Get on a better sleep schedule and keep it." If I start going to bed better and keep doing that, I'll give myself a 10. If I start doing that late in the year, I'll probably give myself a 9-7. If I start mid-year and stop in October, I'll give myself a 7-5. If I occasionally go to bed well throughout the year, I'll give myself a 4-2 for effort. If I fail epically, I give myself a 1 (lowest possible) and try again next year.

Using this format I can see how well I did things, and either congratulate myself, or determine I need to work on it again the next year. I did this rating system for last year's resolutions, and for the most part, if it was under 5 I put it back on my list, or decided that it wasn't really a priority anymore. Some resolutions I might have done 'well' on I revised and made more specific because I felt that resolution didn't help me as much as I had anticipated. I like this version much better than a check or X system because then I can recognize that I made an effort on that resolution, and if a resolution isn't exactly something that you can 'accomplish' then you can rate on how well you improved yourself.

For instance, last year I resolved to work on my writing skills. I didn't do much until after summer, when the classes I was taking required me to improve them, but in my mind they still improved immensely. I gave myself a 7 and decided that it didn't need to be a resolution again this year, I had done most of what I had intended to do. If anything I revised it and changed it this year to "Blog monthly (at least)." I gave myself a specific thing to do, not just a vague goal. Granted, I got off to a rocky start, but at least I can still aim for a 9 (because perfection is out of reach at this point) but I don't have to say 'Oh well, failed that one! Guess I won't even try anymore the rest of the year.' I can still try to achieve a high score, it just won't be perfect.

I like to be somewhat specific in my resolutions, and I'm learning when it needs to be more specific. What does 'Get organized' mean? Use 'organize/clean ___name of location___' instead, it will be easier to measure. Put the name of a room or a specific shelf, not 'the house,' start with small chunks and as you get better you can make bigger goals without totally overwhelming yourself. For several years I've resolved to "Write in journal regularly," but found that evidently 'regularly' was equating to once a month. I still technically was doing it, but it defeated the point. This year I finally woke up and changed it to "Write in journal weekly (at least)" and have managed to stick to it so far.

This year I actually have the least amount of resolutions that I have since I started. I decided I was going to work on fewer things a little harder. I have 9 this year, last year I had 16 (17 if you count the "Survive Dec 21st" one I jokingly made). I think it makes it a little more achievable, and you have less to try to focus on. I also prioritize my resolutions and then (try to) run through them in my head every night and see how I did on each of them that day. Because I go in order of priority, if I fall asleep before I make it through the list I at least reviewed on how I did on the most important ones (which sometimes equates to "go to bed better, nope! Zzzz).

If you haven't made any resolutions for this year you still can, only two months have passed so far, that still leaves 10 months in the year, why wait that long to make goals to improve yourself? If you need to, resolve to write next year's resolutions in December, I've done that before, and the knowledge that I resolved to do that helped me make sure I got some written the next year. I've gotten to the point I don't need that anymore, but it made sure I kept going and made it so I had to remember what I had resolved. Oh, and make sure you write them down and put them in a place you will remember where they are, you won't remember them otherwise. It took me a few weeks to memorize my list, (I wasn't working on it that hard) and I find every now and then that I wasn't remembering exactly what I wrote down, I was changing the words so it meant something slightly different.

If anyone has more tips on resolutions, please post them in the comments! (because I have so many people reading my blog :-P)

Happy resolution keeping!