Make an Annual Plan Instead of a Decision
Forget January – where will you see yourself next December? Decisions disappear, but a yearly plan for your hobby or habit can have a longer, more satisfying return.
Set reminders for the year
Let’s say you want to keep in touch with your friends and family. Calls, messages and letters are great, but these are momentary things. Do them, but also set yourself up for success throughout the year. List all birthdays and set calendar reminders to buy cards or make phone calls. Better yet, fill your shoebox with greeting cards so everyone is ready to go when her day comes. Happy 2018 to you: you are the person who always remembers birthdays.
Plan your season
Or let’s say you are eyeing a fitness resolution. So you’ll be going to the gym all January … but then what? Long-term planning is a little tricky here because you don’t want to assume abilities or progress that you can’t count on. But think about how sports teams structure their seasons: they will train differently at different times of the year. You can do the same and plan your year, or at least spring and summer.
Let’s say you want to return to running this year. A person who has nothing but determination will buy a gym membership and decide that the thinking part is done. But not you! You are smarter. And you wonder if you are ready to run a marathon . Plan this month after month:
- January to March : Go to the gym regularly, say three times a week for strength training and treadmill running. Use a structured program or work with a coach to make sure you are well prepared for the next step.
- April and May: Head outdoors for a running 8 week program like this one targeting 5K (three miles) distance. Decide if you’re ready to start preparing for the fall marathon or prefer half.
- June to September : Train for your chosen race in a structured program.
- October : Run a marathon (or half) and then spend the rest of the month lounging around.
- November and December : Explore your options. Maybe you are tired of running and it’s time to change your sport. Or, if you’ve run a half marathon, consider if you would like to do it in the spring. It’s okay if it’s a little fuzzy. Nobody does anything in December anyway.
Make 12 smaller resolutions
A year is a long time. Maybe monthly tests are better for you? In the spirit of Lifehacker Money Challenge, you can pick 12 things you want to work on and set yourself reminders right now. Maybe April is the month you commit to figuring out your ideal skincare routine and doing it consistently. Come July, you will write in your diary every day. In October, you will spend an entire month making the best handmade Halloween decorations.
You can also run the same project or solution 12 times and hit the metaphorical reset button at the beginning of each month. One day, looking forward to NaNoWriMo, I decided to come up with a new idea for the story every month of the year. Some of them were hasty ideas sketched out on the poster on the 30th, but others I had been pondering all month and had some idea of who the characters would be and what they would do. By November, I had ten options to choose from. A simple variation on this idea would be to write a story every month.
Adapt this to your hobby: You may be drawing a picture, writing a song, or practicing a new skill every month. Very few of us have enough attention for a solution that works all year round, but something that restarts every month or changes with the seasons can help you stick with it. Give it a try and look forward to the December 2018 feeling of accomplishment.