A Resolution Ramble

 

Three days into the year and I have not formalized any resolutions as yet.  I guess yesterday’s revelation that 2021 marks 50 fifty years since graduating from high school was a bit of a speed bump in this regard.

This is not the first time I have written about resolutions.  My favorite and most complete treatment of the topic was in January 2008:  Be it Resolved.  The creation of resolutions are easy, at least for me and I imagine for most others.  It is the execution that is the challenge especially as most resolutions involve behavior modification.   I also wrote, in January 2012, not to be too hard on yourself if you stumble or regress:  Stop Being Your Own Worst Enemy.  Resolutions that require behavior modification are marathons, not sprints.  While you shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, you should also never give up if it is really something you truly want to change in your life.  I wrote about never giving up in January 2012, Health & Fitness Letter, and again in March 2013, Never Give Up.  That March 2013 post is second most read post on this blog.

As stated, execution and sticking to it despite some minor setbacks are the key to modifying your behavior.  It is so easy to write about and so challenging to do.  One of my favorite quotes is one I came

The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what we want for what we want at the moment.

I have seen this quote attributed to both Suprina Berenyi and Zig Ziglar.  No matter the source, it is, oh, so true.  A colleague from my Colgate days, posted the graphic shown here on Facebook this week.  It convey’s a similar message:

 

• Marriage is hard.
  Divorces is hard.
  Choose your hard
  
  
• Obesity is hard.
  Being fit is hard.
  Choose your hard.
  
  
• Communication is hard.
  Not communicating is hard.
  Choose your hard.
  
  
• Life will never be easy.
  It will always be hard.
  We can choose our hard.
  Choose wisely.

 

There is another twist on this is from the movie Friends with Benefits.

Hey, everybody wants a short cut in life. My guide book is very simple:
You wanna lose weight? Stop eating, fatty!
You wanna make money?  Work your ass off, lazy!
You wanna be happy?  Find someone you like and never let him go. Or her…

There was an article in today’s New York Times, there was an article This Year, Try Downsizing Your Resolutions.  There is good advice here but nothing new to add to what I have already written about.

• Think about your motivations
• Pick bite-sized goals that are actually achievable
• Make a plan, not a resolution
• Shorten your list and write it down
• Cut yourself some slack

 

The only thing I might add to this list is to track progress against the plan.

So what am I thinking about for resolutions or… um… plans:

• Continue on with the gradual weight loss and walking regimen
• Write as much or more than last year
• Keep up with grading
• Revise and revive a project I started in 2011:  Songs to Aging Children
  Focus it on 1971 High School Grads

 

The last two will most definitely require some planning.

See, set the resolutions are easy.  No comes the hard part.