New Week's Resolution - Week 24 (Apr 7 - Apr 13)

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 13,573 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: 13,573 Member

    Getting setup for this week a day late, sorry about that. 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
    Kiss wife within one (1) minute of arriving home from work, gym, store, church, etc
    Wearing my glasses every day, all day
    Park in furthest spot available
    Read 10 minutes daily
    Wash dinner dishes the same night they're used
    Get at least six hours of sleep every night
    Check parakeet water daily
    Record receipts same day spent
    Wash hands before preparing ALL meals
    Spray down counter/oven after every meal
    Fold laundry same day it gets washed

    Tasks completed thanks to this weekly challenge:

    Complete digital cookbook
    Clean outdoor grill

    Ongoing focus items:

    Shave daily (4/7)

    New focus item:

    I am still working on this final focus item until I prove over a two-week span that it is becoming automatic (at least 80% of the time), only then will it be replaced with a new item. So this week will be spent repeating the same focus item.

  • tiegemccian
    tiegemccian Posts: 1 Member

    fantastic idea about weekly resolutions, I’ll be utilizing this mindset!

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,054 Member

    Ongoing focus items that are not quite habits:

    - attempt at using all the groceries I have w/ zero waste..
    - Cook only 3 good meals per week with enough leftovers for 2 days (Restaurant on Thursday/pizza Sunday)
    - organizing books, clothes, and papers and donations after decluttering ..

    -prioritizing hobbies that include quality time with friends and family, especially daughter( a little less time spent on solitary activities I enjoy atleast for the next few years)

    *this week, working on the above, and planning a fun weekend roadtrip to see family*

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Monday

    Shave…check!

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    My ongoing focus items:

    • Complete stretch or yoga routine each day, preferably first thing in the morning.
    • Spend at least 30 minutes each day decluttering/spring cleaning house and/or yard.

    No new item yet but I’ll get there.

    Monday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…yep

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Tuesday

    Shave…check!

  • mar_sbar
    mar_sbar Posts: 80 Member

    I like this challenge! Great idea. My first ones for this week are to:

    Get more sleep and rest, as I have come down with a pretty annoying cold.

    Spend just a little more time making music and reading.

    Get back to working out strongly once I am well again.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Welcome, @mar_sbar ! Glad you want to join us, but if I may make a suggestion, your goals are not specific enough. "Get more sleep" can mean 5 seconds more (than what?), an hour more, at least 7 hours…and on and on. If you set a specific time (I use a hard 6 hrs time) then it is easy to see if you did or did not succeed at reaching your goal for the day.

    Try setting actual number goals for each of your goals, for example:

    "Get more sleep…at least 7 hrs of lights out/eyes closed"
    Spend 20 minutes making music and/or reading
    Exercise three times this week (once feeling healthy again) for at least 45 minutes per session

    These small improvements to the goal setting help us to see did we, or did we not, reach our goal. We always reserve the right to change our goals next week: perhaps getting 7 hours sleep is too ambitious, next week I will aim for 6 hrs, for example.

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,054 Member
    20250410_060959.jpg

    I took my kid to see FDR'S little white house in Warm Springs, GA yesterday and saw this, haha..I can relate.

    ✔️ so far for week:D

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Wednesday

    Shave…check!

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    Tuesday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…yep

    Wednesday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…yep

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Thursday

    Shave…check!

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,054 Member

    ✔️ for week..focused on learning asl/Spanish and driving skills with daughter, did a mini roadtrip, going to see family this weekend, lots of spring cleaning. Read only 30 min or so everyday, only a few movies, didn't paint at all. Don't get me wrong, I think those are healthy hobbies but making them less of a priority at the moment!

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    Thursday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…yep

    Friday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…nope

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Friday

    Shave…check!

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Saturday

    Shave…check!

  • p8m6bwghh9
    p8m6bwghh9 Posts: 673 Member

    Saturday

    Stretch…nope

    Spring clean…yep

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member
    edited April 14

    Sunday

    Shave…nope

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 13,573 Member

    Results for the week: success 6/7 days. Putting my electric cordless razor in my gym bag turned out to be the key towards consistency. (Need to think of something for Sundays…no gym that day-rest day-so no looking in the gym bag. Hmm…)

Categories