Resolutions to keep

I walked into the gym earlier this week and cursed the beginning of a new year: completely packed. Luckily, I reminded myself, the unusually large crowds should fade by February or so, and I’ll have my favorite treadmill back in my possession.

It never fails: we start out our resolutions with gusto and slowly they begin to fade. We have to make something a habit before we keep up with it.

That’s how I’m taking my approach to blogging: New Year’s Resolution #1. I’m not doing anything too crazy, or killing myself because I can’t get the words to come out just right. I’m just writing, and posting, and trying to do so on a regular basis, and eventually I hope to be in tip-top blogging shape.

Just to give myself a little accountability, some of my other resolutions include:

Listening to my alarm: I have the bad habit of being best friends with the snooze button. Unfortunately, it’s turning into an abusive relationship and adding unneeded stress in the mornings. Like any addiction, my goal is to slowly wane myself off of it this year.

Focusing on my career: Whether this means going the extra mile at my current workplace to get noticed or figuring out where I want to be a year from now (is that in this industry, a different one?) I need to start focusing on the progression of my career and where I’m heading the next few  years, as well as keeping up with industry trends. The only way I’ll be able to make this a habit is by implementing some tactics to accomplish this (ie. regularly researching trends, self-reflection on a regular basis, etc.)

Working out: I know this is cliche, but I started in January of last year after I had a few too many pizzas and bottles of wine in Italy (yes I mean whole pizzas). I  was able to make going to the gym a habit by going every day after work. Even on days I’m not sure I’ll go, I still have my gym bag packed and with me. I have successfully made my gym-going a habit, and I plan to stick with it this year.

Having a good idea of what tactics need to become habitual to achieve your goals is the first step to long-term success, in my opinion. The second step is being driven enough to implement your tactics regularly.