The Big Secret to Keeping Your New Year's Resolution

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Skeptical About Setting a New Years Resolution?

I loooooooove making New’s Year’s resolutions! I love them! (Me–jumping up an down with my hands in the air!)

You probably don’t love them (sad face). I say that because most people do not, I’ve discovered.

All my life I’ve been asking people if they have a new year’s resolution and almost everyone says no.

Aaaahhhrrrgfffbssssth! That’s so boring! I’m deflated because I want them to say YES! And then tell me all about it. Because I’m nosy. And it’s fun.

It seems like such a natural time to start fresh. Why not do it?

Most people say they hate disappointing themselves.

I get it. I don’t like disappointment either.

Some people say they make improvements in their lives as needed, but where is the fun in THAT? I mean, I do that too, but it’s fun to think about the year to come and work up the feeling of a fresh start.

So why do I love new years resolutions?

Because I have a secret ‘resolution’ sauce that I pour over all my resolutions that makes it all work! I want to share it with you.

Don't get down when your resolutions don't work

I Resolve Not to Be Boring This New Year

How far do you usually get with your resolutions?

Odds are that by February 1st, you have fumbled your dream. You have decided that drowning your sorrows in two quarts of ice cream is your best alternative.

And guess what? Me too! It happened to me to EVERY YEAR.

I love goal setting so I’m no stranger to the frustration it brings with it.

So, why do I still set resolutions? I have a solution!

I can’t wait to tell you!

But first, I want to share a couple of interesting approaches for exciting New Year’s Resolutions.

I’m not going to bother with run-of-the-mill, goal-setting guidelines for New Year’s resolutions. Ugh! How boring.

Sure, it’s important when you set a goal, to make sure it has measurable results and built-in “dead” lines. (Does anyone like that term? I don’t want anything “dead” in my bright and sunny future.)

And there are those who also advocate celebrating victories along the way, yada, yada…yawn.

Let’s just skip going through all those points, okay? I mean it’s good advice, but it’s not what this post is all about.

Instead let’s talk about entertaining ways to approach resolutions.

After that I’ll share my secret sauce for resolution success!

The Minimalist Resolution:

Oooo, this is my newest, shiniest favorite! And it’s so simple:

Choose one word as a theme for the year.

My friend Pat shared this with a group of us one evening.

“A friend of mine told me, ‘I’ve noticed you don’t really listen when your sons are talking; I feel you don’t know them very well.'”

Pat took this to heart and chose to adopt the one-word resolution “Listen” for the year.

Wow, what a powerful word!

She spent the year listening more carefully than ever before. By the end of a year, Pat had a deeper understanding of everyone in her life, not just her sons.

Good for you, Pat! And thank you for the idea of a one-word resolution!

Inspired, I decided to adopt the word “Focus.” I tend to get side tracked by busy work and general farting around, which I’m very good at, by the way.

I want to get to the heart of my goals and spend time on important sh*t, like willing away pimples or spoon feeding my cats.

She inspired other friends too. My friend Sylvia chose the word “Acceptance.” My friend Diane chose “Stretch.” My friend Sarah chose “Create.” My friend Kate chose “Taco.” Just kidding, hahahaaa…it’s actually “Casserole.”

If you want to read what makes a good one-word resolution, check out this post. (1)

Want more? Here is another type of resolution to consider.

Because I have a secret ‘resolution’ sauce that I pour over all my resolutions that makes it all work! I want to share it with you.

The Serial Resolution:

Not to be confused with a serial killer resolution or a cereal killer resolution (ie: I resolve to kill one box of cheerios every day).

The serial resolution is a series of resolutions.

I got this idea after reading one of A. J. Jacobs books.

In his book “The Guinea Pig Diairies; My life as an experiment” he chooses to experience a new thing each month. It’s a funny book; you should read it. (2)

This sparked the idea of creating multiple resolutions, completing one after the other.

Pick your favorite~

12 resolutions; one for each month.
52 resolutions; one for each week.
365 resolutions; one for each day.
8,760 resolutions; one for each hour!

Boy, oh boy you’d be a nearly perfect human being after accomplishing all those resolutions in one year! Frankly, you’d probably need to read my post on being overwhelmed if you picked one for each hour. (3)

Okay, realistically, 12 resolutions is probably plenty. It may also be easier to keep a single resolution for a month than a whole year, right?

So no excuses for dropping the ball…you can keep one thing going for 30 days, right?

Still not convinced you can keep a resolution?

I still haven’t shared with you my big resolution secret ingredient, yet. So have some patience (or resolve to have some patience)…I’ll share that with you in a second.

By the way, one great addition to your resolutions list is to start an at-home yoga practice. Yoga with Adriene is my favorite. (4)

I have one more resolution type to share first and this is ONLY for the advanced resolution-ist. It’s only for the crazies who LOVE to challenge themselves.