New Years Resolutions Are a Waste of Time

By Matt Tucker

New Years Resolutions are a waste of time. I don’t like them. I don’t make them. Why? Because they don’t work. They fail. Don’t believe me? Go to your local gym and ask the guy behind the desk when their fitness center is the busiest. He will tell you that the first three weeks of each new year brings a sudden increase in unfamiliar faces and new memberships. All the people that gained five pounds over the holidays are super-excited to lose that new weight and more. They tell their friends and coworkers about their intentions. They skip dessert for a few weeks. Still, before January is over, so is their diet and exercise plan. As David Zinczenko explains in The Abs Diet, diets don’t work; healthy lifestyles do. (www.absdiet.com)

If a goal is important to you, start today. Why wait until tomorrow or next week or January 1st? Decide today that you are going to take the first step to achieving your goal.

You do have goals, right? If not, you better get some. Write them down. Keep a list. Figure out how to make them happen. Constantly ask yourself if what you are doing is moving you closer or farther from achievement.

Making goals is both great and pointless. That’s right, making goals is great. Making goals is pointless. Let me elaborate:

Making goals is great…if you stick with them.

Making goals is pointless…if you don’t.

Before you tell your friends how you are about to embark on a healthy new lifestyle, make a plan. First, write down some goals. Choose a few that are easily achieved to help build your confidence and make you feel good. Now pick one or two BIG goals. You know, the kind that are life-changing. The kind that you have been thinking about for a long time.

Now it is time to figure out how you are going to make them happen. In my experience, it helps to break them down into smaller parts. Let’s say, for example, you want to lose five, 15, or even 50 pounds? That is an awesome goal – granted you have consulted a doctor before starting any new diet or exercise program, as all programs are required to say.

Reaching this goal may take months or even years. If you are like most people, you don’t want to wait that long to see the finish line. So don’t wait. Break your BIG goal into many smaller parts. What you need do is make daily and weekly goals to stay on track.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Confucius

A person can’t lose 50 pounds. A person CAN lose one pound. And then another pound. And then another until finally, one day, they all add up to 50. Don’t try to lose 50 pounds. Try to lose one. And then try to lose another. And another. You get the idea.

Things come up. Don’t let them get in the way of your goals.
Make a plan. What are you going to do today to get you closer to your goal? What are you going to do tomorrow? And next week? And next month? Get your calender and start filling in what you are going to do. Look at it often. Hang it on the refrigerator. Write down everything you are going to do and more importantly, DO EVERYTHING you write. Write down everything you did and pat yourself on the back. Look back and assess what is helping and what it hurting. Keep doing what is helping and stop what is hurting.

Overgeneralizing? Maybe, but I don’t think so. The key here is planning and doing. You can talk all you want about losing weight – to continue with the previous example – but talking burns a lot less calories than walking, jogging, or cycling. Don’t just talk. Take action.

ProGress

• Make a list of goals you want to achieve

• Break them into smaller parts

• Write daily and weekly goals on a calendar

• Constantly review the calendar and keep up the good work

ProMote

• What large goal are you currently working toward? What have you done to stay motivated along the way?

*Photos are from the 2009 Philadelphia Mummers Parade. The Parade is an annual tradition on New Year’s Day.