Riffing on my earlier posting about “under-promise and over-deliver” -- thought I would spend a couple hundred words on New Year’s Resolutions. Sure, it’s a banal enough topic, covered last week on ten thousand blogs and in every newspaper and magazine at the corner store.
That’s why I waited until January 4th to bring it up. (Also, because I'm lazy.)
By now, I bet 25% of the resolutions made prior to midnight kisses and champagne toasts have fallen by the wayside. (I wrote 50%, but realized I might not be giving folks enough credit--for now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt).
The problem with resolutions is that people fall into the same trap as those rah-rah consultants I talked about this morning: they aim too high, promise too much, and land on their noses.
When most of us set goals--and what are resolutions if not a set of goals we establish for ourselves the same time each year--we define ones that are, plainly, unachievable. We may have our reasons for this behavior. The person who says he’s going to quit smoking or drinking or eating red meat might not want to succeed. But most people enter January 1st with the best intentions.
Jenny wants to lose ten pounds--for real.
Harry wants to write his novel this year--and this time around he means it.
LuAnn wants to meet Mr. Right in 2007.
I say it’s time for a little under-promising. Rather than resolve to “go to the gym every day,” register for a 5K race on April 20th (preferably one with an entrance fee--that's extra binding). Similarly, instead of resolving to pen an entire novel-- which is way more challenging than anyone who hasn’t written one can imagine--promise you'll write 1,000 words each week. When you find inspiration one week and explode with 3,891 words, you’ll have something to get amped up about, something to propel you though the upcoming doldrums.
This is the first year I’ve taken my own advice to heart. As a result, my resolutions are weird. I’m not going to list them here, for fear of documenting my failure...
Okay, I’ll give you one: take a Spanish class at the Boston Center for Adult Ed. Last year, I would have listed “Learn Spanish” as my resolution, and given up by February.
Hasta luego... y Prospero Año Nuevo (gearing up for that class!).
01-15-2007: Contacted first agent with my novel.
01-06-2007: Revamped home page launched!
Send your thoughts:
jason@jasonshaffner.com