Cliche New Years Post: Yes, we’re all guilty of it.
My cynical side sometimes takes over on New Year’s, when everyone is working on their resolutions. Sure, marketers, retailers, and businesspeople alike love this time where they can segment the market based on overused expressions of next year’s outlook instead of a more traditional method of segmentation (sounds a little harsh but you know it’s probably true).
Anyway, in the spirit of resolutions for the new year, I wanted to list the top resolutions as provided by USA.gov (and backed up by this article)
- Lose Weight
- Pay Off Debt
- Save Money
- Get a Better Job
- Get Fit
- Eat Right
- Get a Better Education
- Drink Less Alcohol
- Quit Smoking Now
- Reduce Stress Overall
- Reduce Stress at Work
- Volunteer to Help Others
Listing these reminds me of a bumper sticker on facebook (a new 3rd party application I recently added to my profile), where a mother is stating the statistical improbability of keeping a new year’s resolution. These are hilarious- almost remind me of the demotivators.
So I think what I’m trying to say is that a resolution should be to find a new resolution- something with a measurable metric, something specific to you that also combines some sort of solution into the problem at hand. Because when you think about it, if you don’t give yourself some sort of guideline for your goal, it’s nearly impossible to determine how successful you’ve been.
For example, my modified list is…
- Lose Weight by signing up for a fitness class I’m interested in twice a week. And attending.
- Pay Off Debt by paying more than the minimum payment on my credit cards each month. Oh and I will not sign up for any more credit cards
- Get a Better Job by networking with friends, attending conferences, improving my resume and interview skills.
- Eat Right by speaking with a nutritionist and determining a healthy eating plan (long term), and taking vitamins.
- Get a Better Education by looking into tuition reimbursement from my employer and researching night/weekend/online classes.
- Drink Less Alcohol by not carrying credit cards to the bar, and placing post-it notes on alcohol bottles reminding me of my goal.
- Quit Smoking Now by researching government funded programs (like New York state)
- Reduce Stress Overall >by learning to self-meditate.
- Reduce Stress at Work by cleaning up my work space, setting up meetings with boss/supervisor/manager to make a career improvement plan- what you can do to better yourself in your current job/position.
- Volunteer to Help Others by finding a friend with similar interests and signing up together.
Happy New Year! Best of luck with your goals, and never become “just a statistic.”
