If you genuinely care about the goal, you’ll focus on the system - James Clear

I started committing to new year resolutions only a few years back. A friend sat me down and convinced me that taking a few hours out towards the end of the year to think about what do you want to focus on in the coming year is a worthwhile endeavor (God bless him for that). 

But for a long time, I used to simply write down my new year resolutions, which would inevitably be some combination of these 3-4 things: Get fitter, Read more and travel more. I would give up on the fitness goal in the first couple of months, mostly do okay on the reading goal, and just be spontaneous about travel plans in general (what’s the point of travel planning anyway?)

My thoughts on the new year resolutions, however, have changed over the years. I feel a year is too long a time to commit and assess anything. Two things usually happen: Either you develop a habit and are on the course to complete the goal, or you give up mid-way. And within the first three months, it’s usually clear which way you are headed.

By the end of the first quarter, either your goals would have converted into a system that you follow every day, every week, or every month, which would make hitting the goal an obvious outcome. Or you would never have done any meaningful work around it, and you would just start lagging. 

You won’t need to wait till the end of the year in any case. 

For example, I decide to pick up writing as my Learn one new thing goal last year. I decided to quantify the goal by committing to writing 20 ROTWs in 2020. But well before the year-end, it became quite clear that I would hit the goal; in the process of writing these ROTWs, I had developed a weekly routine which, I am proud to say, has become a part of my life (I ended up writing 33 ROTWs last year, pat on the back). On the flip side, this year too, the fitness goal went kaput in the first few months itself.

With that realization, I have decided to make new year resolutions biyearly from this year. Set a few goals, set them only for six months, reassess them at the mid-year mark and replace them with new goals if need be. Essentially, it gives you a second chance to set your goals. 

It also solves another common problem with new year resolutions: overcommitting to too many things without understanding what you are signing up for.

In some ways, it’s the same as any young startup trying to realign its priorities with the change in market conditions. One could argue it should be done more frequently, like once a quarter or once a month at the very least. I agree; it should. But it’s simply too painful to do so much planning. Therefore, once in six months seems like a fair compromise. It gives you one more chance to realign your priorities, which is good enough. 

I will keep you posted on how this experiment pans out. Whether it’s another one of those ideas that make sense only in theory, or if I am on to something.

Best,
Kaddy

Good. Bad. Who knows?

On Predicting The Future