new years resolutions

[Namednoname]

When I was 15 I set my New Year's resolution (get on the podium in a fencing tournament) and achieved it in 3 weeks. After that for some reason I felt like I'd "conquered" New Years Resolutions, and I never made one again.

Haha nice, I wish all my New Years Resolutions worked out like this one!

I remember last year, being wasted with some of my friends "Yeaaah you watch, this same time next year I'm going to be ripped! I'm going to be awesome!"

I weigh more now then I did last year, and literally haven't really achieved anything all year long. lol.. BUT IT'LL CHANGE THIS NEW YEARS! YOU WATCH!!

[AceInMySleeve]

I like to update my goals around New Years every year, but I think the problem with New Years resolutions is like any habit change people attempt. Normally they attempt to do too much and fail, rather than the gradual changes that lead up to the big changes.

For me this year, my New Years Resolution is to start a blog about my Ironman journey. The timeline works out well (the race is in November), and I want to show my friends I'm not as crazy as they all think for doing these races.

[Niccolo]

I’ve only ever made one resolution that stuck. Typically, I’d make some pie-in-the-sky promise that I could never keep. I’d try for about a week then the resolution would fall by the wayside. I hated goal setting and saw resolutions as just another goal that didn’t really mean anything.

The one that stuck was last year when I made the resolution to live healthier and get into shape. I really think that the reason that I was able to keep this one was because I was at the position in my life where I was ready for it. I was unhappy with where I was and had been thinking about making changes. Before the New Year, I had talked it over with my wife and we were both on board with making the changes. Finally, when the New Year finally came around, I buckled down and committed to it more than I ever had done before. I feel that the support of my wife and the support of the community, both at my affiliate and at NF, have really helped me keep my resolution.

It’s been almost a year since then, and I can’t argue with my results. I’ve lost about 45 lbs of fat and put on about 20 lbs of muscle. My lifts have more than doubled, and I can do things that I never thought I’d be able to do. Best of all, I feel awesome and I’m so happy with my progress so far.

[obax]

I've never really made them in the past, though I always give it a bit of thought in the last couple of weeks of December. I agree with a lot of people here that there's nothing special about Jan.1 and if you really want to do something, then just do it, don't wait for a particular date/time (though I do see the value of picking a future date for starting something and then using the time between 'now' and 'then' to mentally prepare for the change, but that's not exclusive to Jan. 1). This year I might give it a go, though, but only because of the timing of the next 6 week challenge. As a newbie here, I missed the last one, and still don't fully understand how it works, but if I shoot for trying the next one, I've got lots of time to think about what exactly I want to accomplish and how I want to accomplish it. I suppose it won't be so much a New Year's resolution as a coincidentally timed challenge, though...

-obax

[Eirlys]

In 2012 I set myself three core pillars that I wanted to focus on: health, work & creativity.

This year I got promoted, lost 10kg (22 lbs) and went from barely able to walk-limping on a dodgy knee to running 5k under 27 mins, doing a plank for 90 seconds, doing weights for the first time ever (OMG) etc, despite being seriously ill in the first half of the year. Didn't achieve much in the way of creativity but getting fit & concentrating on my job has taken up a lot of time.

1st of January is the first time when all the parties etc are put behind you for a good long stretch of time. It would suck to make a 'be healthy' resolution on 28th Dec (post-Christmas) only to feel like you've fallen off the wagon within 4 days. Yes it will be a bit annoying when all the gym machines are occupied for the first month or so but we can plan for such occurrences!

Being an agile software developer, I find retrospectives useful and end of 2012 is a good time to evaluate how things are going on a more macro-scale in your life. I'll be setting some more pillars to focus on in 2013 but not decided which yet - but I'm thinking Extreme Organisation may well be one!

[soleil]

Never made New Year's resolutions, but I do have a preference to start something at "the beginning", so on the first of the month, or on Monday... that sort of thing. Feels like a clean slate. Plus makes it a little easier to count, but that's just me.

Agreed! I like making New Year's resolutions. I always find January is a good time to get things done - often everyone is broke from spending too much over Christmas so there are not too many distractions and it becomes prime time for settling into new routines (coincidentally, that was my 2012 resolution: 'find out what it takes for me to stick to a routine and why I succeed/ fail'). I broke down this goal monthly, selecting one thing to focus on and see if I could stick to and then thought about why I did/ didn't. I documented most of it and seeing the improvements make me feel accomplished, which is a nice way to feel at the end of the year (and it combats the Christmas-eating struggles too, a little at least, haha).

[Rob__]

I'm in the "why wait until New Years" camp, but I do think that they can be useful. Typically, we set things that we've been avoiding doing in life as a New Years resolution but people tend to fail during the execution of it because it tends to not be a very well defined, well thought out goal.

[Tocho]

I've only ever had one, which I managed to keep. I didn't eat any candy, ice cream, crisps, etc, for an entire year when I was... 15? I think the failure rate for New Year's resolutions is so high (compared to non-New Year's resolutions) because so many people have a resolution just for the sake of having one. "It's a new year so I should do/change something" despite that they don't really want to. Non-New Year's resolutions are pretty much always based on genuine motivation, something that isn't true for New Year's resolutions.

[ionAurum]

New Year's resolutions have caused me to donate (that is join, but not go) to the local YMCA in the past. No longer...

While it is useful to have an arbitrarily significant date act as a switch, I think one can simply make a decision to change some aspect of one's life at any time. When you're ready, you're ready. Not a moment before, really. Signpost dates, however, can serve as a focus and a reference point that can push you into action from mere rumination. I'm going to make New Year's resolutions this year, but only because it happens to coincide with the next NF challenge.

[Baelasar]

I usually do evolving resolutions.  I have my resolutions I should be able to meet in the first couple of months.  I re-evaluate when I meet the goal or in 3 months which ever comes first. 

[Mullins]

I don't much care for New Year's Resolutions.....no, I choose to call the goals I make for a year as it starts simply my goals for the year. I feel with New Years Resolutions are exactly that, resolutions people only stick to while they still feel the year is new. Once we break into the new year and it loses it's newness, those who made New Year's Resolutions instead of real lifestyle changes fall off the wagon.