New Week's Resolution - Week 5

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
in Challenges
Welcome to the first week of the rest of your life! Now seems like a perfect time to select a New Week's Resolution.

What is a New Week's Resolution? It's exactly the same as a New Year's Resolution, with two important distinctions: it only lasts for one week, and you can start one any time you want, rather than just once per year.

So what's wrong with New Year's Resolutions? According to some quick Google research, just one thing: they DON'T WORK!
  • 23% of people quit within the first week
  • 43% quit by the end of January
  • 80% quit by mid-February
  • 92% fail to make it a full year
Why such high rates of failure? Probably because most resolutions fail to follow these simple steps from the SMART method:
  • Specific - "exercise more" is vague; "hit the gym twice this week" is specific
  • Measurable - did I go twice? Yes or no?
  • Achievable - "drink a gallon of water per day" may not be realistic; drink 8oz is
  • Relevant - if it doesn't matter to YOU, why bother?
  • Time-bound - keep your goal for this week something quick you can reach THIS week
With these thoughts in mind, what is ONE thing you want to do this week? Some examples may include:
  • Hit the gym two times this week
  • Cook a meal from scratch three times this week
  • Go to bed no later than 10pm every night
  • Limit myself to one alcoholic beverage this week
  • Finish two pages of my family photo album
...and so on. While this is very similar in nature to the famous "Just Give Me 10 Days" series, that challenge focuses primarily on weight loss and diet control, whereas this challenge is of a broader nature, including interpersonal relationships, home improvements, health and fitness and more. Just pick something specific you wish to focus upon, set a number goal you can reach (or not), and make status updates to document your progress. This will be a judgment-free zone: if you do not reach your goal, take the time to figure out why not (too big a goal, life happened, etc), and forgive yourself, because you can always try again next week.

Replies

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    edited November 17
    Getting setup for next week. My plan is to continue what I started in previous weeks, and add one more focus item every week as I go. Eventually older items will drop off the list, not because I no longer want to do them, but hopefully they will have become so ingrained a part of my daily routine that I no longer need to record them to make sure they get done.

    Past focus items:
    Floss every night before bed
    Clean litter box every night before bed
    Get at least six hours of sleep every night
    Wash dinner dishes the same night they're used

    New focus item:
    Wash dinner dishes the same night they're used - I did not complete the challenge on two separate nights this past week, so I'm going to repeat this challenge to myself until I can claim success at least 6 times in the week, only then will I add another new element.
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,447 Member
    Last week was good, but this week I'm going to try an hour on art, and hour on courses, and an hour on short films at least 4 weekdays (so 12 hours).

    All things that i enjoy immensely, but sometimes tough to get started on and then sometimes I'll start and then get distracted.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Monday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: check!

    Last night I got home from work and immediately began preparing dinner. My wife came up to me after ten minutes or so and lamented I have gotten away from greeting her with a kiss the moment I come in the door. So I will in fact introduce a personal challenge this week, due to not wanting to delay its introduction: kiss my wife hello within the first minute of returning home from work/gym.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 2,139 Member
    Repeating vegs @ breakfast.

    Repeating vegs @ breakfast. Chk
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,447 Member
    @nossmf that is the healthiest goal I've seen on MFP yet!:D

    ✔️✔️✔️ so far..about to start my courses for today.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Tuesday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: oops...
    Dishes: check!
    Kiss: check!

    Running a little short on sleep last night, all my fault. My daughter and I were making cookies, and had the last batch out of the oven and on cooling racks. I wanted to give them 15 minutes to cool before I put them into Ziploc bags to store, so I sat down at my computer to check my email. I neglected, however, to set a timer, and before you know it an hour's passed. Oops.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Wednesday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: check!
    Kiss: check!
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 2,139 Member
    Check, check... back on a roll including vegs at breakfast again.
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,447 Member
    ✔️✔️✔️👌 for week 5
    ...it is definitely becoming habit, my new schedule! I don't feel like I am wasting away my days any longer. Still looking for a 3rd job, though in the mornings unless I start making a little more from Etsy. Atleast I feel that my underemployment will do me good in the long run!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Thursday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: n/a
    Kiss: check!

    Due to a number of things beyond my control ("rush hour" traffic being the biggest one), I did not cook last night, so no dishes to cleanup. Unless you count throwing the takeout stuff in the trash.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Friday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: check!
    Kiss: check!
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 2,139 Member
    Check!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Saturday:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: check!
    Kiss: check!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,073 Member
    Sunday night:

    Floss: check!
    Litter: check!
    Sleep: check!
    Dishes: oops
    Kiss: check!

    All objectives checked for at least 6 of the 7 days, time to add another next week.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 2,139 Member
    check

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