My own thinking on goals has evolved over the years to:
- Prefer forming processes to outcomes.
- Keep it simple (one physical, one mental and one social/spiritual)
- Monthly reassessment
So, given that, here are the two best things I read this New Year’s about resolutions:
Buster Benson’s Make Better Resolutions ends with this wonderful template:
Cultivate new or existing relationships with people who I can share my strongest interests with by doing X
My mental goal this year is to do 20 minutes of Duolingo Spanish practice every day. Per Ramit Sethi, I started 3 weeks ago.
The second “resolutions” piece I recommend is James Clear’s Forget Setting Goals. Focus on this Instead, which is a perfect introduction on why to prefer systems to outcomes.
I usually focus my physical goal around working out, but after 2.5 years of crossfit, working out is such a part of my routine, that I don’t really need to worry about stopping. This year will be about eating better, and for January I joined in our gym’s Whole 30 challenge (this is both social and physical). I will reassess in a month.