Why My Sister Makes The Best New Years Resolutions

My sister has been drawing up resolutions like this for a while now. At the end of every year she always sends me a picture of them written down. We'll usually laugh together about them - she fully admits that they are often silly and don't amount to much. 

But my sister has it on everyone. Really, she does. 

I can honestly say that I've never met anyone else who sticks to their resolutions better than my sister. She keeps her piece of paper handy all year long. And she'll update me with how she's doing with each item. Sometimes she does really well with one but hasn't been paying much attention to another. So she adjusts and works on it. And by time December rolls around again she usually makes great progress and feels really good about her accomplishments. 

Call them silly, but here's why my sister absolutely kicks ass at resolution-making. 

1. She keeps goals small and manageable.

How many people do you know make goals like "I will lose 50 pounds?" So they pay for a gym membership in full on January 1st and try doing crazy workouts every day at 5am. I know there's no shortage of these people because of how packed the gym is during the first 2 weeks in January. Then what happens? Gym traffic dies down by mid January. So much for losing 50 pounds. 

My sister's resolutions are the exact opposite. They are manageable. She can picture herself completing them on a daily basis. 

2. Her resolutions are action focused.

Call my sister's resolutions meaningless, but I'd disagree. Whether she knows she's doing it or not, she's creating small, actionable ways to alter or create habits. She's taking baby steps instead of trying to lose 50 pounds. Why lose 50 when you can lose 5 first?

These small action items that can actually be accomplished on a daily basis add up to something much more meaningful than they may seem. These small things create and encourage discipline and focus, the building blocks for success and truly doing amazing things.

3. She writes her resolutions down.

Not only does this create some accountability but it helps her remember her goals. She makes sure to keep that sheet of paper handy. Notice she's not making a fancy diagram or using some overpriced app to input these resolutions. Just old fashioned pen-to-paper. And it works. 

4. She shares her resolutions.

I may not be calling her every week reminding her of her resolutions, but by sharing them with me each year she's making herself more accountable. She doesn't like when winter rolls around and she has to tell me that she hasn't emptied her dishwasher on time once. So she works harder. 

So here's a challenge for you. Try creating a few resolutions like the above. You might surprise yourself with what you can accomplish in a year.