Resolutions are dumb
Ambition always gets the best of me. Instead of trying to write a book I’ll have to write the single greatest work of fiction the world has ever seen. The problem there is that, you might have noticed, that never happens and instead I flail about and make a bunch of notes and never see it through.
The same goes for working out. If I’m not jacked after two weeks of eating better and working out then I’m a colossal failure. I become demoralized, I start eating trash again, and I feel embarrassed and ashamed and never want to go to the gym again.
But every ounce of progress I’ve ever made is because I’ve focused on much, much smaller goals. Goals so small that they don’t even look like goals. Just write this morning. Just finish that chapter. Just get one less coffee. Just go for a walk over that hill. Just don’t eat that. Just call. Just work. Just sleep. These tiny, every day details are where progress is made. The small routines.
So what I’m trying in 2024: no life-changing goals. Screw the resolutions! No more trying to write the next great American novel, no more trying to become the best designer with the sharpest eye, no more unhealthy ambitions that lead nowhere.
Right now my goal is to hit 240lbs over the next week. That’s barely a goal! Who cares about a few pounds? My goal tomorrow is to wake up at 6.30am. How hard is that? My goal today is to go for a big walk up that hill. How easy! The difference is that all these goals are so tiny that they become manageable, simple enough to do right now. But eventually, over time and with enough work, they turn into something bigger. With enough discipline they turn into a freight train of progress. A genuine resolution.
But not today. Today I just gotta go walk up that hill.