you’re going to get a new job. Don’t decide
to lose 100 pounds; decide to go to the gym
a few times a week. Don’t decide to win
Father of the Year; plan a trip for ice cream
every Tuesday. Small steps are easy to take,
but they make up the entire journey. Don’t
count them out.
Tell someone what you’re doing
It’s not exactly a new tactic,
but you’re missing out on a
great motivator if you don’t
let someone know your
goals and how you plan to
achieve them. Not only do
you feel good for getting
encouragement in the short
term and reaffirming your
plan, but you’re establishing
accountability for yourself
and creating more motivation to stick to your goal.
Creating consequences for
straying can help keep you on the path.
Back in the dark ages before smartphones
and laptops, our ancestors had to remember
the tasks they had to complete to achieve
their goals, and figure when to do them by
sundial. Thankfully, we as a society have
a million things that can remind us what
we’re trying to do. Set reminders on your cell
phone for tasks that need
completing and put events
on your calendar. The human
condition is one of constant
procrastination, and we need
all the pushes we can get to
start moving.
Also, be sure to look for applications specifically built
to help with what you’re
trying to achieve. Apps exist for nearly every kind of
self improvement, from
fitness to finances, and for
more abstract concepts that don’t work with
spreadsheets and schedules, simply keeping
a journal of what you’re doing can help, too.
Pick one thing
Make a list of every perfect person you
know and tell them they’re perfect, then
watch them shrink up before confessing that
they’re a mess, too. Everybody has problems,
all of us want to fix something about ourselves and seldom is there only one change
we want to make. Thing is, change is hard,
which is why hardly anybody does it, and
overloading the system with a laundry list
of adjustments will likely leave you discouraged enough to abandon all of your goals.
Pick something you can get started and save
the next crisis for the next year.
12
Use tech to help
Do it for you
Yeah, it’s that time of year and resolutions
are what people do. But there’s no point in
making a resolution if it isn’t something you
really want. Don’t decide to change yourself because the world says you should, and
don’t do it for superficial reasons. This is
about deciding to be the person you want
to be, declaring that you’re going to make it
happen and having the gall and gumption
to walk that path no matter what. You can do
it, so get started. ✻
January 2016
INSIGHT