http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/what-kind-of-year-do-you-want-to-have/ Personal Development for Smart People Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:27:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/what-kind-of-year-do-you-want-to-have/#comment-10157 Flee the Cube»Blog Archive » A different take on New Year’s resolutions Wed, 11 Jan 2006 15:08:53 +0000 http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/what-kind-of-year-do-you-want-to-have/#comment-10157 [...] All this being said, I think I’m ready to start setting New Year’s resolutions again. And this time, they don’t have to be the complicated, or unattainable resolutions of the past. More importantly, I’m not going to declare failure if I slip up here and there. One approach that I really liked was the one mentioned by Steve Pavlina. It involves making commitments to do simple, measurable actions every day. For example, doing 25 minutes of aerobic exercise every day instead of “Lose 15 pounds.” Note how there is no expectation tied to Steve’s resolution, although more than likely there will be a result tied to it. So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2006. This first year back I’m keeping them simple and I’m only making three. [...] [...] All this being said, I think I’m ready to start setting New Year’s resolutions again. And this time, they don’t have to be the complicated, or unattainable resolutions of the past. More importantly, I’m not going to declare failure if I slip up here and there. One approach that I really liked was the one mentioned by Steve Pavlina. It involves making commitments to do simple, measurable actions every day. For example, doing 25 minutes of aerobic exercise every day instead of “Lose 15 pounds.” Note how there is no expectation tied to Steve’s resolution, although more than likely there will be a result tied to it. So without further ado, here are my resolutions for 2006. This first year back I’m keeping them simple and I’m only making three. [...]

]]> http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/what-kind-of-year-do-you-want-to-have/#comment-10137 goals for 2006 at Life Putting Wed, 04 Jan 2006 20:06:23 +0000 http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/what-kind-of-year-do-you-want-to-have/#comment-10137 [...] Everyone in the blogosphere (yes it’s a dorky word) seems to put up their predictions or their goals for 2006, and I can’t really help but do my own version here. I figure by putting them out in public, I’ll have to live up to them. A fantastic blog I read pretty much daily (and I’ve mentioned on her before) is Steve Pavlina’s personal development blog. He really has found his unique ability constantly working on improving himself, his life, and his reader’s lives. He had a great post about how to use New Years resolutions. Basically the idea is to make simple steps instead of grand changes. For example, if you want to “get in shape,” he argues that with a resolution like that a positive outcome is unlikely. How could you know each day that you moved closer to “getting in shape,” and even more importantly, how would you know you ever got there? Instead of saying I’d like to “Get in shape,” say, “I’d like to do aerobic exercise 25 minutes a day.” That way, there is never a grey area on your resolution, never a question of whether or not you did it, and no way of talking yourself out of it. This goes along with David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, which talks a lot about microchunking goals and projects, into actionable items. Which sounds more daunting, I need to clean the garage or I need to get rid of old golf clubs from the garage. Sure, removing golf clubs from the garage isn’t cleaning it, but it is a step in the right direction and is something you’re likely to do because it seems easy. I know so many times I’ve put something like clean the garage on my to do list and skipped over it because I didn’t have time or desire to tackle the task. Anyway with those thoughts in mind, here are my goals for 2006. Personal: [...] [...] Everyone in the blogosphere (yes it’s a dorky word) seems to put up their predictions or their goals for 2006, and I can’t really help but do my own version here. I figure by putting them out in public, I’ll have to live up to them. A fantastic blog I read pretty much daily (and I’ve mentioned on her before) is Steve Pavlina’s personal development blog. He really has found his unique ability constantly working on improving himself, his life, and his reader’s lives. He had a great post about how to use New Years resolutions. Basically the idea is to make simple steps instead of grand changes. For example, if you want to “get in shape,” he argues that with a resolution like that a positive outcome is unlikely. How could you know each day that you moved closer to “getting in shape,” and even more importantly, how would you know you ever got there? Instead of saying I’d like to “Get in shape,” say, “I’d like to do aerobic exercise 25 minutes a day.” That way, there is never a grey area on your resolution, never a question of whether or not you did it, and no way of talking yourself out of it. This goes along with David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done, which talks a lot about microchunking goals and projects, into actionable items. Which sounds more daunting, I need to clean the garage or I need to get rid of old golf clubs from the garage. Sure, removing golf clubs from the garage isn’t cleaning it, but it is a step in the right direction and is something you’re likely to do because it seems easy. I know so many times I’ve put something like clean the garage on my to do list and skipped over it because I didn’t have time or desire to tackle the task. Anyway with those thoughts in mind, here are my goals for 2006. Personal: [...]

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