In December 2014 my two closest friends and I decided to list our resolutions for 2015 in one document. Every December after that we would create a new list as well as comment on whether we achieved the previous year’s goals. This little exercise has resulted in me having all the resolutions I’ve made for the past 6 years (2020 included). As we get closer to a new year I wanted to share some of the key things I’ve learnt and how that can help you write better resolutions.

1. Goals take time. Looking through the resolutions, the first thing that jumps out is that goals that I thought could be accomplished in a year actually took me 2-4 years. Simply put, patience and consistency is rewarding. It’s something I keep in mind now when I’m writing resolutions. Yes, I’m hoping to achieve my goals in 12 months but if I do not achieve them I am happy as long as I stay motivated to eventually achieve them.
2. Extreme goals do not give extra motivation. One year I had a crazy resolution of starting a side business that was self-funding and that did not need my attention. Now that’s an extreme goal because at the time I was trying to get through grad school and keep this blog updated while working full-time. The idea that I could somehow still start any meaningful business on the side was absurd. Instead of having a reasonable goal such as developing an outline for a business plan, I rather chose an extreme goal and ended up doing nothing at all with respect to business.
3. The basics don’t change. In 6 years my friends and I have seen significant changes in our level of knowlege, finances and relationships. Nevertheless, our goals can still be summarised as financial independence, improved health, expanding our skillset and developing healthy relationships. What this tells me is that these are things that we will be working on our whole lives. It’s good to understand that right now instead of expecting that we will reach a point where we won’t have to put in the work.
4. Some things come easy. If there’s one goal I can be sure of achieving, it’s to maintain this blog. Sometimes I even think of taking blogging goals out of my new year resolution because it feels like it will be automatically accomplished. Nevertheless, I leave it on the list. Coming up with content is hard work and yet I rarely fail to do it. I’m now trying to figure out why blogging comes naturally to me and how I can find something else that is also productive and that I can do consistently.
5. Immediate gratification is overrated. This is a bit related to the first lesson. Looking through my list of resolutions past and finding something I wanted to do in 2015 that I finally did in 2019 is very satisfying. I feel no disappointment in taking 4 years to do what I wanted to do in 1 year. Keep this in mind if you don’t achieve a goal right away.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the few lessons I’ve shared and that it will help improve your new year resolutions. Thanks for reading and do share if you found it useful.