Most resolutions don’t stick because they’re not resolutions. The idea behind the world resolution is to solve a problem. So for starters, approach resolutions as problems to be solved.
And then? The word itself tells you what to do next. “Resolution” comes from the Latin resolutionem, which means “to reduce things to their simplest form.” Mathematicians liked the idea so much that, by the mid-1500s, they’d adopted the term solve (from the root of the word resolution), indicating that the way to address a problem is to reduce it to its basic step-by-step components. This, in turn, led to the modern word resolute, which means not just to “stick to” something, but to adopt a plan that has “the power of holding (you) firmly” in place by providing a step by step process.
So, if you want your resolution to stick: 1) Identify a problem, 2) reduce it to basic steps you can take to solve that problem (“pray, walk past cookie aisle, go to fresh fruit section…”) and, 3) resolve to follow it, knowing that your plan contains stick-to-able steps to take you all the way!*
*Unless Godzilla eats the gym.
No resolutions for this year😂
Oh, but we all make resolutions, big and small, throughout the year, even if not at the start of the year.
Yes lots of people make but I don’t.Let life do what it want and I do what I want😊
I think it’s a mistake to make resolutions once a year. I’ve been trying to find what I want to fix and take action; striking while the iron is hot, so to speak, not when pressured to do it. No grand commentary on social media, no public announcements to cause shame if I fail.
I agree, J. I make resolutions at various times throughout the year, but am never so foolish as to announce them publicly! ;>)
Nothing worse than having to explain why ( (let’s pretend) changed my mind.
Being a perfect person, I have no problems and therefore require no resolutions.
Tell us something we don’t know, Andrew.
Resolutions like fitness are part of an on-going process – life. Sometimes I balance everything better than other times. Godzilla wouldn’t be interested in our neighborhood gym – at the local high school. I save the membership fees by walking/running there. Rinsing my hair before I leave, I look sweaty like I’ve really been pounding the road as I wave to the neighbors going inside. For me that’s a win-win! 😀
;>)
Some may be praying that Godzilla DOES eat the gym… Ha! Ha! I like this explanation of “resolutions.” I thought I was simply setting goals or objectives for myself because I break them down into small steps, but apparently, I truly AM making new year’s resolutions… in July 😉 Fantastic and practical post, Mitch! You are just so good.
;>) I haven’t suggested anything you’re not already doing, smart lady.
Great post, Mitch. Very insightful. With the mind we conceive, but with the will we achieve.
Indeed. What a love/hate relationship with have with that little things called “will.”
My resolution is to live a healthy lifestyle. That doesn’t mean I can’t eat a cookie, just not the whole bag. I like the way you broke it down. My problem is that I am not healthy. That way of looking at it should help me.
Hope so. Happy New You, Carla!
NOW I know why I haven’t hit the gym in years….Godzilla ate it!
I couldn’t agree more man! So many don’t stick but I just made a post similar to this if you want to check it out. https://thebeatwithkey.wordpress.com/2018/01/12/how-to-evoke-your-2018-resolutions/
I will!
If I got a pet Godzilla, walking it would probably take care of the exercise part. And what bakery would let me in with one? Maybe I can find one on Amazon…
Check Craig’s List. You might get a good deal on a used one.