An Important Consideration when Writing New Year's Resolutions

The Secret to Resolutions that Stick

New year, Fresh Start

It’s the beginning of a new year. That fresh start feeling is in the air.

You feel like you have a clean slate to accomplish anything! You’ll finally start eating healthy, going to the gym consistently, or maybe even take that vacation.

You write your list of New Year’s Resolutions and you can picture what your life will look like a year from now when you’ve accomplished all you set out to do. The excitement is palpable!

Week one goes great. This is the year you’re going to stick with it. You can feel it!

Week two is a little tougher, but you’ll get back on track next week. However, week three isn’t any better and by week four, it’s starting to feel like a chore.

When the calendar changes to February, you give up on your New Year’s Resolutions all together. There’s always next year, right?

I get it. I’ve been there. For years that was me. Starting each year with so many ambitions, only to give up when the excitement wore off and it started getting difficult.

But not anymore. I stumbled across something that changed everything! And it could change it for you too.

The Secret to Personal Growth

Around New Year’s one year, an article written by Mark Manson called “The Most Important Question You Can Ask Yourself Today” popped up on my feed. The article starts out:

“Everybody wants what feels good. Everyone wants to live a care-free, happy and easy life, to fall in love and have amazing relationships, to look perfect and make money and be popular and well-respected and admired and a total baller to the point that people part like the Red Sea when you walk into the room.

“Everybody wants that — it’s easy to want that.

“If I ask you, “What do you want out of life?” and you say something like, “I want to be happy and have a great family and a job I like,” it’s so ubiquitous that it doesn’t even mean anything.

“Everyone wants that. So what’s the point?

“What’s more interesting to me is what pain do you want? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives end up.”

The Change

As I wrote my New Year’s Resolutions a few weeks later, the article came to mind. For maybe the first time ever, I really analyzed what I was putting on that list and whether or not I was willing to work or even suffer for it.

This article changed my perspective and challenged me to focus my resources on what mattered most. I made a plan to achieve those items and that year I saw more personal growth than any prior. And you can too.

I made going to church a habit (and actually enjoyed it!) and I started reading the Bible. I strengthened friendships with people who deserved a place in my life, I left the country for the first time, and I went from eating mac and cheese six days a week to two days a week.

I spent more time doing things I love and less time worrying about things that didn’t matter.

Writing Your New Year's Resolutions

As each new year rings in and you’re getting ready to write your New Year’s Resolutions, re-read this article and use this question to guide what you put on that list.

Better yet, anytime throughout the year when you get an urge to master something new, ask yourself how hard you’re willing to work for it an how much of your resources (time, attention, money) you’re willing to dedicate.

It’s been the biggest help in guiding me to focus on what matters most, allowing me to simply my life and it can help guide you too.

You can read the full article here.

Is one of your New Year’s Resolutions to spend more time outdoors this year? If so, check out some of my favorite Colorado hikes from 2020, Highland Mary Lakes Loop, Wetterhorn Peak, and Lewis Mine & Lake.