The troubles with New Year's resolutions are many. Oftentimes they are built on guilt. They start with "I should start (or end) this practice". You feel you should do something, or stop doing something. Not necessarily what you want to do. And they are based on starting on a certain date, and extending throughout the year. You feel as if you must do this thing every day, and if you miss a day you have failed. It's not as if being successful a high percentage of the time is okay. It is all or nothing - either you are perfect or it is a waste. It is not a good model for success. And the build up to the start date - New Year's - is stressful - like running a race. You can't start a new year's practice on January 2nd or 3rd. And you can't get a head start on December 30th or 31st. That just won't do. So most people either make new year's resolutions, work at it a few days and quit. Or they don't make new year's resolutions at all- and also don't make plans to improve their lives at all.
I think we need a different model. One that recognizes that it usually takes about 30 days to make a significant change. One that focuses on what we really want to do. And one that doesn't wait for a certain date to begin, but just does it now. If you really believe that some change in your life needs to happen, and that changing a specific behavior will help, why not just start doing it now? Recently I went to the doctor for my annual physical. One of the issues I have is diabetes and my blood sugar numbers were high. I had been pretty regular in the past few years since being diagnosed, but during the pandemic I had gotten lax and also had some interruptions in prescription delivery and wasn't checking my numbers regularly.
I knew that I needed to confront this and take corrective action- which my doctor recommended I do. I got the testing equipment squared away and my prescriptions fully filled. I restarted a practice that I had done before - regular testing in the morning, so I knew what my daily numbers were. And I started keeping track of numbers and what I ate on a daily basis, in a handy little notebook I carried with me. As a result I saw my numbers going down and could see why - and if my numbers were higher one day I could see why from what I had eaten. My doctor was glad, and so was I. I established a good routine. And it was built on just doing it, not waiting for some special date.
So, for this coming year I urge you to embrace change. Don't wait till New Year's day to make some vague "resolution". Don't succumb to guilt. Find a vision of what changes you would really like to make this year, what actions that will take you to places you want to go, who you want to be. And start living that vision today. Don't Wait.
