Resolutions

(photo from icanhascheezburger.com)

Does you has goals for 2008? Of course you has. And it's not too late to tweak them for maximal effectiveness, either. In my December 30 "My Word," I advised that the more specific your resolutions are, the better. Here's a few more tips--

1. Focus on behavior, not results. Let's say you want to lose five pounds. "Eat at least two servings of vegetables a day," and "Get to the gym twice a week" are better resolutions than "Lose five pounds." They are positive, for one thing, and also focus on building good habits for their own sake. Maybe you'll lose the five pounds, maybe you won't. But you'll be getting your veggies and exercise, and that's always good. It's better to be five pounds overweight and well-nourished and exercised than it is to be able to fit into your prom dress while lying on the couch gnawing on rice cakes.

I bring up weight because it's such a popular resolution, but the general principle applies to all kinds of things. One of my goals for 2008 is to concentrate more on my work, to be more fully present and have my writing time at home be more productive. "Work better" is the kind of resolution that can make you crazy, though. So I've resolved to begin my workday with a time of meditation/prayer that focuses my mind, and also to dress nicer when I work at home so that I feel more professional. So far, it seems to be helping!

2. Don't set black and white goals. A big problem with some New Year's resolutions is that they're set up on a pass/fail system, so that once you've made one mistake, you feel that there's no point going back on the path and give up entirely. It's better to set a range in which you can be successful: say, "get to the gym one to three times a week." Any resolution with the words "quit" or "always" or "every day" are setting you up to fail. Your goal is steady improvement, not a radical change of character or habit.

3. Of course, a problem with the gradual improvement, shades-of-grey style of resolution-keeping is that you can all to easily lie to yourself. You don't even have to mean to lie to yourself; people tend to overestimate things like how much they work and exercise, and underestimate things like how much they eat or irritate their neighbors, quite naturally. (Psychologists study this kind of cognitive bias all the time, and a fascinating area of study it is.) So if you're trying to do something like work out more, do a good deed every day, read more serious literature, or whatever, try to keep a journal of your efforts, so that you can see, objectively, how well you're doing.