My (Unmeasurable) New Year’s Resolutions

Last updated on: January 1, 2014 at 12:24 pm by Ellen Painter Dollar

My (Unmeasurable) New Year’s Resolutions 2014-01-01T12:24:57-05:00 Ellen Painter Dollar

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The time seems right for me to make some resolutions for 2014. Because I broke a few bones on December 1, the last month of 2013 was more about getting necessary things (wrapping Christmas presents, etc.) done at the last minute than about proactively ordering my household and life. Now that I’m feeling better and the holiday whirlwind is wrapping up, I’m ready to make some changes to improve my health and habits in 2014.

Conventional wisdom says that, when you set personal goals, you must make them measurable. Otherwise you’ll have no way to discern if you’re meeting the goal or not. I disagree. When I attach specific numbers to my goals, I usually end up giving up on the goals when I fail to meet the numbers. So this year, I’m deliberately leaving my New Year’s resolutions very general. For example, I’m setting a goal of writing every day, without putting a word count on it. If I set a word count, this is what will happen: A day will come when writing a set number of words will seem impossible. So I won’t write anything. But if my goal is simply to “write every day,” then on a day when I’m short on time or inspiration, I can still meet my goal by, say, writing the first paragraph of a new blog post.

My resolutions this year are a simple list of things I will do every day. If I get to the end of the day having done each of these things, even in some very small way, then I will have succeeded and will (I hope) be inspired to tackle the same list tomorrow.

These are my unmeasurable New Year’s resolutions.

Every day in 2014, I will:

– Pray: My prayers might involve using Phyllis Tickle’s Divine Hours prayer books, saying the Jesus prayer or Lord’s prayer, intercessions for specific people and situations, or a simple prayer of gratitude for my many blessings.

– Write: I have hesitated to ever commit to writing something every day because I thought I had to have a minimum word count, and knew that the scenario above (“There’s no way I can make that word count today so I just won’t write anything…”) would happen far too often. I’m committing to writing something every day. Grocery lists and short, practical e-mails do not count. Outlines of future writing projects and substantive e-mails do.

– Exercise: Most days, I will fulfill this resolution by walking the dog or swimming laps. Undertaking a large grocery run, which involves lots of walking along with pushing and carrying heavy loads, counts. Yoga and exercise ball DVDs will suffice when the weather makes getting out of the house too difficult. Illness and broken bones serve as reasonable excuses for shirking this resolution, but I am hoping for little of the former and none of the latter in 2014.

– Eat fruits and vegetables. A strange thing has happened to me in recent years. I just don’t enjoy food the way I used to. As a result, I often eat very little for breakfast and lunch. Nothing much appeals. This resolution is simply a reminder that, when I’m not jazzed about eating breakfast or lunch, a clementine, apple, or salad almost always tastes good, and is almost always readily available.

– Drink tea. I have something of a Diet Coke habit. While I don’t plan to completely break that habit, I would like to drink more tea and less diet soda. My brief venture into naturopathy last year introduced me to the antioxidant and other nutritional benefits of various types of tea. Few things are more appealing in my chilly Connecticut house on a January (or February or March or even early April) day than sitting on the couch with my laptop, a cozy throw, and the dog snuggled up nearby, with a cup of hot tea in my hand and a good writing idea in my head. And in warmer months, I find that hot tea appeals more than my usual cup of coffee first thing in the morning.

How about you? Do you make resolutions? Why or why not? And how do you plan to measure success, if at all?

(And then there’s this, from my dear friend Rachel—A post that puts all of our resolutions and hopes and failures into true perspective.)

New Year's resolutions

work

writing

Previous Post

December 31, 2013

My Most Popular Posts of 2013

Next Post

January 6, 2014 Christmas Lasts for Twelve Days, Not One

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category disability ethics parenthood Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was known for his great strength and long hair?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elijah David Peter Samson