Resolution

The phrase “New Year’s resolution” is an interesting one. We don’t call it a “goal” or a “promise” or a “decision.” We call it a resolution. Why is that? What makes something a resolution rather than simply a goal?

I think the difference is that a resolution requires more determination. The word choice emphasizes the persistence it takes to reach a particular goal. When you set a New Year’s resolution, you are presumably planning something that will take a good part of the year to accomplish, something that you will have to continue working at. It takes – well, resolve – to carry it through.

The Magic Formula

I think this is important to note because so many times, we don’t have that resolve. New Year’s resolutions are, in Mary Poppins’ immortal words, “pie crust promises, made to be broken.” They’re more like nice thoughts than commitments. Why is that? Why do we start off with such good intentions and never seem to get anywhere? What are we missing?

I think, deep inside, we know the answer. Most of us instinctively follow the magic formula for success when it comes to something like a job interview, or a spelling test, or a college application. But we don’t always recognize what we’re doing, and so we don’t apply that formula to other areas of our lives. What magic formula am I talking about? It’s not a secret, and it’s not that complicated. Ready?

Goals + Planning + Persistence = Growth.

1. Goals: Aim for outputs, not inputs.

Suppose you order something from Amazon, and a few days later, a large box arrives in front of your house. You try to lift it, but it doesn’t budge. You strain and sweat and pant for a good twenty minutes, but the box isn’t moving. Would you count your effort as a success?

Of course not! You measure your success with the box in inches, not in drops of sweat. What good does it do to spent all that time and effort when nothing has come of it? You measure not the effort in, but the results out, to determine your effectiveness.

And yet so often, we as people and organizations insist on setting input goals rather than output goals. We want to work out so many hours, or try to give up sweets, or act nicer. These are all still input goals. Why do you want to work out? To lose weight? Gain muscle? Look better? Make that your goal. Why do you want to act nicer? To benefit others? Get better performance reviews? Make more friends? Make that your goal. Don’t measure your goal the time and effort spent; measure it in results achieved.

• Planning: you get what you inspect, not what you expect.

I hear this in the Navy at least once a week, and I’ve found it to be true. There’s no use setting goals if you have no way of tracking them. If you want to lose weight, how much weight, and at what pace? If you want to help others, in what way, and what exactly does that look like? Volunteering? Writing encouraging sticky notes for colleagues at work? How often are you going to do it? Who’s holding you accountable?

We talked already about making sure the box moves instead of just straining away, but how will you know if it’s moving if you aren’t looking at it? In my experience, even things that seem abstract, like “be nicer” come down to specific actions and people at some point or another. That means they can be tracked in some way, shape, or form. If you can’t quantify something, it probably isn’t happening.

• Persistence: the other 1,999,999 steps.

We’ve all heard that the journey of a thousand miles (approximately two million steps) begins with a single step. That’s all well and good. I wrote down my list of goals; I cleared the junk food out of the house; I got a Planet Fitness membership. Great. In my experience, though, it’s the other 1,999,999 steps where you lose most people.

The first step is great. But it’s only the first step. Whether you’re studying a foreign language or breaking an addiction, there are a lot more steps to go. That’s why it’s called a resolution – because it’s not a one-time thing. It’s something you have to keep coming back to and reaffirming, again and again, all year long, or until the job is done. Tracking the box does no good if you don’t bother finding a way to move it.

Resolve

The formula isn’t complicated. Why, then, do we so often fail to complete it? Because while it may not be complex, there’s no denying it’s hard. It takes tenacity. It takes grit. It takes… resolve.

Let’s do this, 2021.

“Resolutions and goals” by creepyed is licensed with CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/