Another year has gone by and most people I have talked with are hoping for a better and happier New Year. It is that time for the tradition of making resolutions to try and make sure the New Year is a better one. The one post on media outlets on the descriptions of a New Year’s resolution that caught my humorous eye was; “A resolution is a’ to do list’ for the first week of January.” Some ‘research’ on the subject shows that roughly 90% of resolutions made by individuals are forgotten by the end of January, or first week in February. I have to admit I am in that category.
I wrote my resolutions down last year to make sure I remembered them. Out of a dozen hopeful resolutions I missed every one of them. The only one that came close was the resolution to lose 15 pounds. I didn’t lose 15 pounds, but the good part of the resolution is that I didn’t gain any pounds. So, I am starting over in the same place this year.
With the reporting of how many resolutions fall by the wayside I started to think if there was some way I could find a better way of making a more concentrated effort to keeping my resolutions. I came up with two ideas that might work. One; people tend to follow through on tasks if there is a reward, or recognition, at the end. As an example, a person that makes a resolution to quit smoking this year. A pack of cigarettes costs approximately $6.00. For every time the person resists the urge to buy a pack of cigarettes he, or she, will take that $6.00 and put it aside. After a few months they can check the amount of money in the resolution pot. For a pack a day smoker the individual stretches out that pack to two days, half a pack a day instead of a full pack, this amounts to almost $20 saved for the week. In three months that comes to about $250.00 in that pot. Use the money saved to treat yourself to something special. It might be a nice evening out, a new outfit to wear, or reinvest it for a bigger reward later. Maybe a new pair of cowboy boots you have been wanting.
