I wrote about this in my most recent Things I Believe post, and wanted to expand on it:
Commit to making time for something simple in the year ahead. Make a goal to try the crossword every morning, or to invite friends over for a home-cooked dinner ever week, or to see live music once a month. It’s the little things that often make you the happiest.
This is the time of year when people commit to New Year’s Resolutions — which inevitably end up discarded by the time February rolls around. So instead of setting a major resolution you’ll fall short on, start smaller. Start with something that’s going to help you grow, or feel more connected to your friends or community.
There are three types of goals that are easy to aim for:
Commit to a learning goal — Pledge to make time in 2019 to learn something new. If your company has a learning & development team, make it your goal to attend one of their trainings every quarter. Choose to read more — say, a new book every month. Or you can go even smaller: In 2018, when I realized that I didn’t know enough about the archives of the magazine I work at, I pledged to read one archive New Yorker story every day. It required me to set aside 30 additional minutes a day to read, but it’s helped me learn so much about the writers who’ve shaped this publication.
Commit to a personal goal — Again, keep it small. A few years ago, I pledged to save money by bringing my lunch to work more often. (The back-of-the-envelope math: Bringing a sandwich instead of buying lunch saves me about $1,500 per year. New York lunches are expensive!) You can commit to getting coffee each week with a colleague you don’t work with that often — expand your network at work! You can commit to volunteering more, or to making time for a puzzle. (I’ve never been one for crosswords, but I made it my goal in 2018 to try to get better at them. I’m still not very good, but I can get through about Wednesday in The New York Times, thanks to regular practice.) In 2019, I’d like to try to have friends over for a home-cooked dinner at least once a month. It’s a small goal, but it might push me to try to cook more (which I always enjoy!) and to connect with old friends (always wonderful!).
Commit to a fitness goal — A few years ago, I made it my goal to run 500 miles in a year — and I didn’t come close. (I ran 70 miles in the first three months, and 57 the rest of the year.) Reach goals for exercise are especially hard to hit. Set a more reasonable goal instead: Make it your goal to try a new fitness class every month. Or do what I’m going to try in 2019: To run three races (probably in the 5k-10k range) over the course of the year. One race every four months is doable, but would still be a real achievement for me.
Most importantly: Once you’ve set your goal, find an accountability partner to hold you to it. If you have someone there to keep track of your progress and urge you on, it makes it so much easier to keep going.
———
That photo of a planner comes via Estée Janssens and Unsplash.