on life, ambitions, and dreams

New Year’s Resolutions are a Load of Crap

We claim that January is the time to celebrate the New Year and the new you.

Got 10 pounds of Christmas cookies you need to shed? No enrollment fee on gym membership.

Got a relationship that’s holding you back? Enroll in our seminar and we’ll teach you how to walk away.

New Year’s resolutions are a load of crap. They are goals that we should have been striving towards since the little bug in our ear said something was not right in our lives. January 1st is just another day. The calendar flips and nothing in our life is different except we need to start writing “2011” instead of “2010.”

And yet, the New Year gives us a reason to light a fire under our ass and do what we have wanted to do all along.

New Year’s resolutions are good for something – they allow us to wipe the slate clean and start over. And if all we need is a cleansing of the psyche, why fight it?

2011: Bring it.

2010 was an interesting year in my life, and a year that actually started by a pretty big event that happened on September 30, 2009, and lasted until just a few weeks ago. And at midnight on Friday when I give and receive my New Year’s kiss, for the first time ever, I am looking forward to everything that I plan to achieve in 2011.

I haven’t made resolutions, per say, but goals. In 2009 as part of a job application, I was asked to submit 5 goals (3 short-term and 2 long-term), plus a list of my ideal work environment down to the essential functions of the position. That document actually served as the framework for my entire job hunt throughout 2010. And I’m happy to say that I achieved my 3 short-term goals mid-way through the year.

To prepare for 2011, I sat down with a good friend and outlined a number of achievable goals that support the major areas of my life—from health and CrossFit to writing and investing in this blog, plus how to maintain my personal sanity, reach professional goals, and even travel. I also added a few self-less good deeds that will help me prioritize relationships I want to improve on this year. Under each category are 3-to-10 actionable items that I will do daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly and track.

These goals are preceded by 9 ideas to keep me centered and focused throughout the year. They’re very personal and aren’t easy to track. But they are behaviors and ways of thinking that I want to incorporate into my life, slowly.

My friend is doing the same thing of writing out goals for 2011 that he can track. Our plan is to meet up regularly to see how the other is doing and keep each other accountable.

In all honesty, I’m looking forward to 2011 because I’m ready. I’ve shed some psychological and emotional baggage that was holding me back the past year, I have 2011 mapped out according to my terms, and I have some pretty exciting news to announce come early January.

2011 will be is my year.

So there you have it. New Year, New Me? Not exactly. But New Year, New Ways to Kick Ass? Yes, that’s absolutely true.

Want help planning your New Year’s resolutions and 2011 goals?

Read Scott Berkun’s post, New Years Resolutions that Work. It’s the best how-to I’ve found as it outlines, step-by-step, how you can write a resolution and follow it.

I’m actually following a number of tactics on Scott’s “Divide and Conquer” list, and probably the reason why it’ll work.

What are you looking forward to the most in 2011?

Photo Credit: meddygarnet

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12 Responses

    1. I love your post and your list — as I mentioned 🙂 Something I’ll do every month or quarter is review the goals to make sure they’re still helping me get to where I want to go, plus check in on my progress. I love that part of tracking.

    1. I love your post and your list — as I mentioned 🙂 Something I’ll do every month or quarter is review the goals to make sure they’re still helping me get to where I want to go, plus check in on my progress. I love that part of tracking.

  1. “And yet, the New Year gives us a reason to light a fire under our ass and do what we have wanted to do all along”nnDitto. I can totally relate to this. I didn’t start out 2011 with loads of goals or resolutions (so unlike me!). But 3 months in and things come up as I am turning every rock on my path, looking forward to unfolding every single one of them (with a light firing under my ass) :).nnBtw, it’s me MissChi ;). I just started my own blog yesterday. Will look to you for inspiration on this journey. nn

  2. “And yet, the New Year gives us a reason to light a fire under our ass and do what we have wanted to do all along”nnDitto. I can totally relate to this. I didn’t start out 2011 with loads of goals or resolutions (so unlike me!). But 3 months in and things come up as I am turning every rock on my path, looking forward to unfolding every single one of them (with a light firing under my ass) :).nnBtw, it’s me MissChi ;). I just started my own blog yesterday. Will look to you for inspiration on this journey. nn

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