MAKING RESOLUTIONS

Be SMART

This time of year, people make New Year’s resolutions, most of which are abandoned by the end of January.  But why is this?  Why do people firmly resolve to do something (or quit doing something) and then, so often, fail?

Be SMART

In our work lives, we learned to create SMART goals, whether for ourselves or for others.  Remember these?

Specific: Well-defined, clear, and unambiguous

Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal

Achievable: Something possible for you

Realistic: Within reach, reality-based, and relevant to your life purpose

Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.

This made it much easier to track goals AND understand when you had actually achieved them.  But most New Year’s goals aren’t like that.  “I want to quit smoking.”  “I should lose weight.”  “I want to enjoy my job more.”  We all do a bit better when we set SMART goals so we can track our progress and know when we’ve succeeded.  Instead of saying you will lose weight, define how much weight you will aim to lose per month, how are you going to accomplish this, and how long will you be working on this goal.  It only makes sense if you aren’t already at (or below) your goal weight (Relevant) and if you set a weight loss goal that is possible to achieve (Achievable).

Try What I Say, Not What I Do

I’m telling you this because for many years, I was like almost everyone else.  I’d have completely crazy goals and then lose sight of them very quickly.  Probably the dumbest was that I was going to find a man of my dreams.  You can only imagine how ridiculous that one was.

On January 1st, 1980, I saw a sign around my apartment complex advertising “the solution to your resolution—Jazzercise.”  I’d never heard of it before, but having tried many exercise programs I hated and diets that weren’t particularly healthy or fun, I thought I’d try one more.  To make it easier, the instructor offered it at our community center, so it was just a short walk.  Hard to make excuses when it’s that easy.

I showed up and struggled a bit, but found I really enjoyed it.  Current music to what seemed to be mostly dancing; what’s not to like.  I did enjoy dancing, though I wasn’t particularly talented, but as my prior resolution noted, I had no one to dance with at the time.

I stuck to it for six months, having signed up with a friend.  This is also helpful; if one of us wanted to plead tiredness or some other excuse, the other would push.  We both went three times a week and then, the instructor disappeared.  The good news is that we were hooked.

Jazzercise is a franchise-based operation so you could look into other locations (much easier now with the Internet).  I found another class, met a lot more women and kept going.  Each year, I’d make the same resolution and keep to it.  Today, I do five classes a week, and, since the instructor now has a one-week library of live classes you can take on-demand, I have no excuse not to do it on vacation on my iPad. 

But here’s the thing.  As I found myself losing weight and getting more toned, other benefits magically appeared.  I slept better.  I became more committed to my health and even now, spend a fair amount of time researching things that will help me and my husband keep our brains and bodies working well, longer.  I’m more conscious of how I eat, how I keep my teeth healthy and more, including finding a small study that can actually prevent or stop macular degeneration, cheaply and easily.

We’re All Different

If you have a bad habit to lose, that’s a great goal to work on. But for something as useless as saying “I want to lose weight,” you can do better without worrying about being SMART.  After all, anorexics lose a lot of weight; we don’t want to do that.  After many stupid diets and a bunch of popular but not “for me” exercise programs, Jazzercise hit the sweet spot that made it doable.  Sure, I hoped to lose weight and get toned, but I simply said, “Do Jazzercise regularly.” 

As my remaining good years seem to be flying by, having healthy goals is more important to me, so even as I continue to work out, the simple fact of doing it regularly has spawned so many other good habits, almost seamlessly.  Find one thing you can commit to and that you enjoy (at least, most of the time) and you’ll be surprised at what else may follow.

Happy New Year!