Evaluating New Year’s Resolutions

It’s New Year’s eve! Ready to take the plunge into 2018?

I find that the cold and inclement weather and long nights in the northern hemisphere are especially conducive to reflection and inner work. Many people use the holidays to mull over the past year. I like to set aside some time to review what it was all about (if anyone can explain what happened in 2017, please let me know), and figure out what to do differently, starting with the metaphorical clean slate we all get on January 1.

You see, around this time of year, many of us turn into amateur evaluators. When making New Year’s resolutions we are essentially evaluating ourselves, are we not? It’s safe to say that you don’t make a resolution unless you’re dissatisfied with something. So, we reflect on the past year: what went well, what didn’t go so well, what was achieved, what wasn’t.  And based on this self-evaluation, we think about what we want to do better, or differently, next year. That’s similar to what evaluators do when they take on a new assignment. Only in this case, the focus is more personal. And you don’t get paid for it. Which may explain why so many of us fail.

But resolutions are difficult to stick with. According to surveys, while almost half of Americans make them, less than one in ten keep them. I freely admit that I often fall short. But now and then I succeed in sticking with something. This is what I have found works for me:

Self-monitoring is another way of changing. Evaluators rely on data, and time-series data is an excellent source of measuring change over time. To measure something is the first step. The management thinker Peter Drucker reportedly said that to improve something it must first be measured. I have found that just tracking something gets me interested in doing more of it (or less of it, if it’s a bad habit). Many people track their spending as a way of managing their family finances. I’ve kept a list of every book I’ve read since 1986. I also keep a log of how many hours I work. Monitoring equals awareness and awareness forces one to decide how much to value a particular activity, and whether to increase, decrease or change something about it.

Divide and conquer! If your resolution involves a major project, divide it into smaller tasks and take them down one by one. Otherwise, it can all seem overwhelming. The temptation to throw in the towel and say ‘the heck with it’ may be hard to resist. Take your big fat goal, and sit down and make a list of all the steps to reach it. This might involve collecting information (how to fix that leaky ceiling or furnace, where to take language classes), talking to people, getting the tools for the job, setting aside time. The steps should be manageable and not too difficult or time-consuming. Then, one by one, go through your list, checking off the tasks as you complete them. I do this when I have to write reports,

Seek help. It is easier to accomplish something if you have support. It can come from a mentor, a coach or teacher, even a friend or colleague if you share similar goals. I took up the piano in my 40s after a 20 year hiatus, and found I could still play and enjoy it. But I wanted to play better, so I found a piano teacher.

Reward yourself.  Incentives, if they’re designed properly, tend to work.  Now while it may be difficult to find someone to pay you for achieving your goals (and good for you if you can!) perhaps you have some guilty pleasures (assuming you’re not a robot) that can serve instead. Such as things you like to eat, buy or experience but feel you shouldn’t indulge in that often. Why not make a deal with yourself? A reward for certain milestones on the path to achieving your resolution. ,

Develop some low-effort habits. If your resolution is about changing something in your life – maybe learning about a new area, developing a new skill, or reducing your screen time – try making a small adjustment to your routine.  For example, you might set aside 10 minutes in the morning for working on a new language, for meditation, for exercising. Or you might commit to not checking your email except at prescribed times during the day (recently recommended by the Tim Harford of the Financial Times). If the change is not an onerous one, very quickly it may become a habit. You have to figure out what the best conditions are. In 1997 I began keeping a journal. Over two decades later, I still spend 10-20 minutes writing every morning, after shaving and before eating breakfast. I found that the trick was to get the writing over in the morning, not in the evening, by which time my cognitive resources are depleted and I don’t want to have any  more obligations.

None of the above may work for you – I myself probably fail more often than I succeed – but it doesn’t hurt to try. Something might stick. Remember, the bottom line is to take whatever resolution you come up with, cut it up and organize it into chunks that are small and easy to digest.

As to my own resolutions for 2018? Post more blogs, for one.

Happy New Year and good luck with achieving those goals!

Edited December 30, 2020