If you visit a gym regularly, once November hits the jokes about the impending swarm of new years “resolutioners” begins. For about 2 months the gym will be a crowded nightmare until the majority of the “resolutioners” lose motivation and return to their regular habits. Because of things like this the whole New Years resolution concept has a bad rep of being a bit of a joke. Of course goals can be set any time and behaviors improved for reasons other than an arbitrary date. With those excuses in hand I did not set any goals for new years for many years. Finally though maybe 4 years ago I learned about the real power of goal setting and new years just seemed like a good time to review and re-calibrate. Since then I’ve been on the new years resolution bandwagon. So since i’m currently reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and learned that publicly writing down your goals dramatically increases your chances of following through I thought I’d do just that. Here are my goals for 2015:
Write a daily journal. This is something entirely new to me that I’ve never tried. I’ve heard it recommended countless times though and can imagine it would enable one to lead a much more introspective and intentional life. My only chance of pulling this off is if I do it at 6am before my son is awake, so it will be a new experience trying to think clearly that early in the morning. I just figure if I can write as much as a paragraph I’ll count it and I hope it will grow from there.
Workout daily. This is a recurring goal that is on most lists I’ve ever made. Usually I can hit 3 days at the gym on a good week but I want to spend those off days running, which is something I haven’t done in years. The scale is heading in the wrong direction right now though so I need to step up my game. I’m not getting any younger so it’s only going to get harder if I don’t get back into my pre-baby habits.
Daily prayer. I’m a practicing Catholic so prayer is an important aspect of my life. In the last 2 years though I haven’t designated a specific time to daily prayer. As a result it doesn’t happen. I need to get back to where I was in 2012 and designate the first 15 minutes of my day to prayer. I know from experience that this is the best possible way to start off a day.
Weekly blog post. Maybe you’ve noticed I’ve picked up the blogging a bit in the last few weeks. I love writing this blog because it forces me to think things through I might otherwise ignore. It’s difficult to get started but once I’m in the habit I love it. I really want to keep it going this year and aim to post weekly.
Monthly contribution to another platform. In addition to writing this blog I’ve been lucky enough to be allowed to contribute to the discussion on other platforms as well. I want to step up my engagement within the industry. So far I’ve been on a podcast, I’m booked to speak at a conference, and I’m going to be a monthly contributor to a trade magazine. I’ll link all this stuff of here through this blog once it’s published. I’m hoping this is just the beginning of some exciting new projects.
Permanent home. Finally, for my families sake, I want to settle into a more permanent home in 2015. In the last 2.5 years we’ve moved 5 times and it’s beginning to wear us down. I intend to spend a lot of time making the right decision as to where to settle down and move into a house this year.
So I’m leaving it at that since I don’t want to make so many goals that failure will be ensured. Care to publicly write down your goals for the year? It’s supposed to increase you chances of following through! If you dare post them in the comments!
