New Week's Resolution - Week 7

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 11,798 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: 11,798 Member
    Getting setup for this 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 because 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 successfully transitioned to un-monitored habit:
    Floss every night before bed
    Clean litter box every night before bed

    Ongoing focus items:
    Get at least six hours of sleep every night
    Wash dinner dishes the same night they're used
    Kiss wife within one (1) minute of arriving home from work, gym, store, church, etc
    Wearing my glasses every day, all day

    New focus item:
    Reading ten minutes per day - Rationale: I used to be a voracious reader, have the bookshelves to prove it. But over time I allowed other commitments to crowd out reading time, until eventually I look up and I haven't read anything in a while. Combined with my favorite author having just finished a new trilogy where I want to re-read his past material to be ready to experience his new, and I want to make reading a priority once again. Starting small, just ten minutes per day, should be doable.
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,980 Member
    Continuing from last week ~ eat with intention, consider my options, my approach, make a thoughtful choice.

    It helped. Extra and seasonal treats are everywhere and I have next shiny object syndrome with it... i see, smell or hear about it and I want to eat it or several!

    So, pausing when the thoughts hit to consider how it fits into my food plan, make a decision - leave it or eat it, and if I decide to eat it (how, when, where & why?)

    then when i eat it, to eat it and enjoy it with no guilt nor regret - there are always future opportunities to buy or make and eat more later, if i want.
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,341 Member
    edited December 2
    Starting back to my weekday to do list! including 30+ minutes art (post 1 item for sale per wk), 30+ minutes linkedin courses, and 30+ minutes short films every M-Th.

    Did post atleast one item for sale last week, atleast.

    Adding a NOT to do for this week! I'm going to try to spend less than 60 minutes on internet this week on my workdays (not including my job)...
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,341 Member
    ✔️ I got so much more done yesterday than usual!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,798 Member
    Monday:

    Sleep...check!
    Dishes...check!
    Kiss...check!
    Glasses...oops...left them on my nightstand when I went to the gym at 5am, didn't get back home until after 7 at night
    Read 10 min...oops...me and my best bud were cheering our favorite team on for MNF before I went straight to bed, forgetting to read
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,980 Member
    Check
  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 2,341 Member
    ✔️for Tuesday
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 11,798 Member
    Tuesday:

    Sleep...check!
    Dishes...check!
    Kiss...check!
    Glasses...check!
    Read 10 min...oops...thinking it was the wrong week to add another item to my bedtime routine, this time because of choir practice for the Christmas concert which lasted waaaay longer than expected
  • Adventurista
    Adventurista Posts: 1,980 Member
    Check

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