Habits Over Resolutions

Every new year, people are inspired to accomplish something. They write down their resolutions, in the hope of accomplishing them. They’re actually just goals at the end of the day, but people call them resolutions because they feel more firmly motivated, or resolved, to accomplish them.

The flip of the calendar year is treated as a blank slate. It’s symbolic. It’s tradition. It’s also a little bizarre. If you think about it, it’s pretty limiting. However, if you were to take the opportunity every month (instead of every year), to evaluate your life, and consider the goals you want to achieve, you increase the number of opportunities. You’d also probably increase the likelihood of success.

I’m re-reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. It’s a brilliant book. Go get it, like right now. Everybody should have this book on their shelf. Make it a priority to buy it from a local bookstore. Amazon is already getting too much of your money. I read it several months ago, but I’m reading it again. This time, I’m reading it to understand the material more deeply, to help me become more successful with achieving my goals. If/When you read it, you’ll learn that it’s wrong to think in terms of outcomes. It’s better to create an identity for the kind of person you want to become, and then, to create habits and systems to support that identity. So that’s what I want to do. It’s my hope that by implementing the ideas in Atomic Habits, I’ll achieve the results that have been eluding me thus far.