There is a circle of stones in England, Stonehenge, that was constructed about 5,000 years ago. The pyramids in Egypt are similarly ancient. Around the time of Christ, someone constructed diagrams in the ground south of Lima Peru. These “Nazca Lines” depict various shapes and can only be fully appreciated from altitude (they just found more last month). These are all visited, studied, and written about. They are among the wonders of our world. What they all have in common, though, is that they are the result of someone’s efforts and they have stood the test of time.
We individually pale by comparison. Certainly, we each engage in regular daily activities. We focus perhaps on long-term goals periodically. We perhaps even daydream from time to time about our futures. But, for the most part, we become entrenched in our day’s activities. In the realm of workers’ compensation, it is likely that at least once in a while our daily tasks include mundane, repetitive, and mindless tasks. The world is full of those.
According to a survey published a few years ago in Inc., “about 60 percent of us admit that we make New Year's resolutions but only about 8 percent of us are successful in achieving them.” It is a certainty that no one knows for sure how many of us actually go through the ritual of making goals, annual resolutions, or even finding the time to focus on our own self-improvement or growth. We are, too often, bogged down in our own day-to-day. We are overshadowed by the needs of our job, our families, and our lives. Self-reflection is a luxury.
That 8% is actually a bit depressing if you think about it. It is perhaps a contributor to our personal inclination to make a resolution? If our personal history is replete with annual examples of our own failure to persevere and succeed, perhaps it is human nature that we would shy away from making further such self-commitments?
And, why do we focus on resolutions and goals only as a year closes? It is not only about individuals, organizations also tend to spend a year’s end focused on the next year.
Some argue that we generally “have a natural bent toward self-improvement.” The author there concedes that “the New Year is an arbitrary date,” but that some have concluded this time of year “gives us time and a goal date to prepare for the change, to fire up for the shifts we plan to make..” In short, we are naturally focused on the next year as a result of the natural feelings that come with closure of the last year. Well, you can have closure or a new beginning any day you choose to. This post is not written for January 1, 2023, too late for that date. But, the point is you can make a resolution any day.
I am in the 60%. I have not always been in that number. But, professionally, I got into the habit of setting goals many years ago. It made sense to me that the success of my business should be considered and contemplated periodically. I learned that goals are both necessary and appropriate. Jim Collins, in Built to Last, described the need for “big, hairy, audacious goals” (BHAG, or “Bee Hag”). These are the ones that change the very direction of an entity. I recommend the book and the process.
But, BHAGs alone are insufficient. I would suggest that similarly, a New Year’s resolution alone is insufficient. We are instinctively incrementalists. Our brains are hard-wired to enjoy success and lament missteps and failures. We are each a strange mixture of intellect and emotion, which would be difficult enough to manage even if the two influences remained forever static. But they do not, and some days our intellect prevails while others those emotions drive us.
In addition to the larger goals, the horizon focus, we must also have objectives. Those are the shorter-term increments that we see as helping us along the way. With them in our focus, we can work toward the larger goal. They are easier for us to accept and comprehend. They are the increments that allow us the motivation of small successes, and our failures in such small doses are less likely to ruin our resolve.
What do we resolve to do each year? The Inc. survey revealed the following top ten resolutions. It is fair to say that many of these are BHAGs. They require life-changing, commitment, and therefore a great deal of strength. We could resolve to build a pyramid, but is that realistic” The Inc. top ten from the recent article are:
- “Diet or eat healthier (71 percent)”
- “Exercise more (65 percent)”
- “Lose weight (54 percent)”
- "Save more and spend less (32 percent)”
- “Learn a new skill or hobby (26 percent)”
- “Quit smoking (21 percent)”
- "Read more (17 percent)”
- “Find another job (16 percent)”
- "Drink less alcohol (15 percent)”
- "Spend more time with family and friends (13 percent)”
Some of these are likely ambitious (“quit smoking”). Others are vague (“exercise more”). A friend jokes with me that his “only exercise is walking to the kitchen for a snack.” Therefore, for him, walking to the mailbox would qualify as “exercising more.” But, would that be of any real benefit? In addition, any of these is likely amenable to some quantification and some intermediate objectives. What if we changed each as follows:
- “Diet or eat healthier (71 percent)” to “stop eating ________.” Perhaps “fast food?”
- “Exercise more (65 percent)” to “walk ___ steps daily/weekly” or “attend yoga ___ weekly?”
- “Lose weight (54 percent)” to “lose one pound per month.”
- “Save more and spend less (32 percent)” to “deposit $______ monthly to saving?”
- “Learn a new skill or hobby (26 percent)” to “spend _____ hours per week on ______?”
- “Quit smoking (21 percent)” to “decreasing my daily cigarettes by 1 each week until I hit 0?”
- “Read more (17 percent)” to “spend _____ minutes each evening reading?”
- “Find another job (16 percent)” to “applying for ____ jobs weekly?”
- “Drink less alcohol (15 percent)” to “decreasing my weekly alcohol to _____ drinks?”
- “Spend more time with family and friends (13 percent)” to “spending ____ hours per week with family and friends.”
These are more definite. They are measurable and incremental. Rather than looking back in December 2023 and asking “did I drink less alcohol” or “did I read more,” these are measurable on a weekly or daily basis. With that definiteness comes the probability that there will be shortcomings; in a given week one might fail to submit those job applications or resumes. But, that will not mean failure for the year. That will merely mean that one must strive harder to pick up the gauntlet again the next day or week.
We all are capable of self-motivation. And, it is likely that we each have at least one or two BHAGs in our personal or professional lives. We may not acknowledge them often enough, or devote sufficient time to working toward them. But, we have them. We may not build the next pyramid or any other such grandiose monument that will stand the test of thousands of years. But, we have them. Will they remain in the closet forever? Or, will we make a commitment to address one of them in 2023? Will we make a goal for ourselves, for no one else’s benefit, knowledge, or business? Will we commit to ourselves to make our own goals real?
I set resolutions every year. I have a history, to be kind, of “mixed results.” But, I have had some successes. In January 2017, I resolved to do one sit-up and one push-up each day, increasing that by one per day until I could do 100. I made it, eventually doing 31,700 that year. In 2018 I set out to double that, and I missed at 61,017. Close, but not quite. By the end of 2018, I was doing 250 per day though, and made that my 2019 goal; I did 109,643 (300 per day) in 2019. I upped that in 2020 to 128, 200 (351/day). My goal to maintain in 2021 failed; I made only 115,150 (315/day). Then in 2022, only 100,015 (274/day). But, despite no increases, I have maintained. And, with the record behind me, I strove very hard in 2022 to maintain over 100,000. That is my goal for 2023, to maintain that volume.
In 2016, I incidentally walked 2,732 steps (1.1 miles) daily. in 2017 it was 2,471 (1.0)(this was not for excercise, but normal daily movement). The first six months of 2018, were very similar. I decided in June 2018 to set a goal of four miles per day. That was audacious. I followed through for 6 months, and the success was motivating. In 2019, I changed the goal to four miles per day "exercise" (you get a lot of steps, like a mile, each day without trying), and ended up averaging 5.1 per day that year. 2020, I was focused on maintaining that 5-mile average, but COVID gave me lots of time (not much to do but sleep and go to work). I ended 2020 at 7.5 miles per day. I returned in 2021 to the 5 miles per day average and set my goal for 2022 to moderate my time walking. I set a goal for last year to walk only 3 miles per day and to maintain my weight. I failed and walked 4.6 per day. I am going to strive to walk less in 2023, but I do enjoy the peace of that time each morning. In 2022, I resolved to finish my perpetual motion machine (BHAG) and accomplished that one on New Years' day 2023 (missed it by that much).
From this, I can report that (1) results can be mixed; (2) persistence is important, (3) failure or non-achievement does not mean you cannot keep trying, (4) incremental goals work better for me, (5) completing a BHAG is very rewarding and affirming.
But, what is important is what works for you? Maybe you have made resolutions for 2023. Some of the experts say a great many of us that have will drop them within the month of January, more in February, etc. By year-end, only 8% of us will persevere. But that is not a realistic measure of success. If you fall off the resolution, start again and be more focused on an increment (anyone can do one sit-up, anyone). Don't beat yourself up for missed achievements, or missed days (I did not walk yesterday morning due to a monsoon, but I made it up last evening; on January 1, 2023, I did not do my situps or pushups, but it will all average out as I focus on today, tomorrow, and the next day instead of yesterday).
Make your goals focused, measurable, and desirable. Give yourself the chance to misstep without labeling it a fail. When you miss a day, focus on the one you can change (today) instead of thinking about yesterday. Make some big goals, set some objectives, and just keep beginning again with your goal being to progress. Or, stay in the 40% that does not make resolutions, set goals, or dream.
