New Year’s Resolutions Blog

New month resolutions

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

I’m a big proponent of breaking down tasks into smaller increments. You want to write a novel? Don’t think about writing 50,000 words (like the NaNoWriMo people do); think about outlining your plot, sketching your characters, then writing 1000 (or 500, or 300, or as many as you can manage) words each day. Half of those words may never become part of your final novel–but you’ll never create a novel without them.

Want to run a marathon (like me!)? Start by running 20 miles a week, not 20 miles a day. Over several weeks to a few months, build up to the 20-mile run. You don’t have to run 20 miles every day in order to run a marathon; you just have to be able to run 26.2 miles one time. Of course, if you’re trying to WIN a marathon, that’s another thing altogether, and it involves a bit more preparation. But the preparation still comes in small increments–you can’t run 200 miles in one day, then not exercise for the rest of the month, and consider yourself well-prepared for a marathon.

Sometimes I feel like a broken record when I’m spouting off about the virtues of breaking it down, but I still believe strongly in “baby steps” (which reminds me — I should watch What About Bob? again soon!). That’s why I was excited to come across this article advocating making monthly resolutions, not yearly resolutions. It’s really a great idea, and a great way to build on existing progress. It’s also easier to change your life faster if you focus on incremental resolutions. For example, if you’re New Year’s Resolution is to lose 10 pounds, you could start in January by walking 30 minutes during your lunch hour. In February (coming up soon!), keep walking 30 minutes each day, but also start cutting some foods out of your diet and/or adding another form of exercise. In March, continue your previously established habits, but start limiting yourself to three sweet treats a week.

That diet plan is pretty vague, but you get the idea: incremental improvement still gets you somewhere. You might not lose 10 pounds in a week, but you’ll lose 10 pounds in a few months or a year–and, more importantly, you’ll keep it off, because you established a set of good habits over time.

So my 2007 resolution is to run the marathon. I’ve been doing pretty well with my running so far in January. I think I’ll make a February resolution to get out and run on trails or in parks at least twice a week, instead of simply running in the gym or around my home. My increased mileage in February will help motivate me to do this (it gets boring running 6 miles by doing 3 two-mile loops in your neighborhood!), but I’m going to make it a personal priority as well.

Come up with a monthly resolution for yourself, and share it here!

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