Make Your New Year’s Decision Smaller
New Years decisions are usually associated with a big aspirational goal: I will study every day, I will write a book, I will never eat junk food. But most of us are struggling with our decisions . One problem is that we set ourselves too high goals. If you want to achieve a big goal, you need to set a small one first.
In fact, you should set your goal so low that you can’t brag about it. Instead of “I will write a book” you can say “I will write 100 words a day.” It’s a goal you can achieve during your lunch break – heck, during your bathroom breaks – and there is no glory in achieving it. But there is great value in achieving this.
There is a psychological phenomenon called the “ feet in the door” technique : a charity asks you to sign a petition, and as soon as you do, they ask for money. They know that if you agree to a small request, you are more likely to agree to a larger one. This is what you are doing here with yourself. By setting ridiculously achievable goals, you are setting yourself up for success.
The more gradually you come to your resolution, the more seriously you will take it. No famous musician wrote his best song first. None of the Olympic skaters have completed the triple lutz for the first time on ice. They gave themselves time and room to improve, and so did you.
Likewise, you can divide a large goal into smaller steps. If you can, turn each step into a separate goal. For example, I have created several web video series. If I planned too far in the future, I didn’t shoot a single episode. But when I only shot one episode at a time, I had nineteen videos and over a million views. I tricked myself into doing big projects piece by piece.
So start small – so small that you can’t help but succeed. If you do ten push-ups a day for a month, reward yourself with free weights. Do free weights for a month, then reward yourself with a gym membership. By then, there will be fewer people in the gym who want to quit smoking.