I avoid New Year’s Resolutions. However I will admit that flipping the calendar to a new year is a convenient time for reflection of what went well and what did not. If so, then it certainly makes sense to develop an action plan to improve.
Personally I avoid the term “resolution”. I much prefer the word “goal”. In my mind, goals are actionable. Your mind may vary.
In the year 2012, I decided to try something radical. I have heard it said repeatedly that it takes 28 days to form a new habit. With that in mind, I set out to embark on my “12 in 12 Challenge”. That is, twelve new habits (or elimination of bad habits), in twelve months, in the year 2012.
I knew starting out that it was a ridiculous challenge. It was so ambitious, I was doomed to fail, even before I began. But that depends upon your view of failure. I successfully implemented 8 out of 12 habits. If your goal is perfection, then I most certainly did fail. If your goal is progress, then I consider 66% achievement an overwhelming success.
Among those 12 goals was health and fitness. Little did I know when I wrote those two items down in December 2011, that those goals would drive my behavior for the next two years. Yes, I hit 2013 with no other agenda other than to keep on keeping on with health and fitness.
Here I am on the eve of a new year, with a different mindset. 2013 was a year of expanding my horizons within the world of CrossFit and personalized medicine. Now I am looking to narrow my focus within these disciplines, no longer desiring to just do it, but will strive for measurable improvement. Over the next few weeks I will be clearly defining those goals, identifying the milestones and setting up the measuring stick for success.
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