Why New Resolutions are not achieved

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I just went thru my 2021 resolutions and noticed that I did not write down any lofty and unachievable goals in the document that I had prepared. I had set some self-improvement goals to address certain dimensions that I wanted to explore and/or improve upon.

In 2021, I decided to rekindle my reading habit and had set a target of completing 1 book every week with a goal of reading 52 books in 2021. And like many “annual resolution makers”, I failed to achieve that lofty target by over 37 Books.

?Similarly I had set out to write regularly at the rate of 2 articles every week. I woefully fell short of the target too.

But, I did not set any weight reduction or any other fitness goal for 2021 as daily fitness has been my life long habit.

?Two days back when I was riding my bicycle en-route to the Chamundi Hills, I was contemplating on New Year resolutions for 2022. It occurred to me then that while I did fairly well on the Health & Fitness front, I fared abysmally on the other dimensions of reading or writing or learning. It dawned on me that the reason for my inability to achieve the resolutions is on account of the following:

?1.??The targets set are way too lofty and big to achieve in the first place. Especially considering that this could either be a new area/dimension that I was embarking upon or something that I was revisiting after a prolonged break.

2.??Daunting outcome measures: I had set an outcome measure in terms of numbers that I wanted to achieve. This was either to massage my ego and give it a boost or to address the innate narcissism through such metrics. No wonder I failed miserably

3.??Habit formation is prerequisite: What I realised is that I must address the creation of a new habit (or destruction of an old habit) for me to achieve my resolutions and thus realise my objectives.

?When I look at the above three causalities towards realisation of our goals and objectives, I can conclude that I did well on health and fitness front only because over the last 35+ years I had always prioritised on my fitness regimen. I make it a point to get out of the house for at least an hour to either run or cycle or swim or workout. I never set any weight reduction goals per se or any outcome goals for running or cycling.

?I have come to realize that, the focus must be towards the input measure rather than an outcome metric.

?So the New Year is going to be about habit formation rather than an outcome target metric. It may eventually lead to a desired outcome or probably even something better.

?So the objective for the year ahead is the following:

1. Read everyday. Pick up any book from the bookshelf and go thru it. Just Read.
2. Write whatever comes to your mind. Regardless of whether it is worthy of being printed or not. Just Write
3. Learn something new every day. My interest is in the areas of Technology, Capital Markets, Science and History.

*Notice that there is no goal or target to go after.

?Fortunately, I am not on any of the sources of distraction on Social Media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc., which can possibly derail my focus

I will let the reader to appropriately calibrate their resolutions and shift the focus towards habit formation instead of focusing on an outcome in the areas that is of their interest.

?For example, those desirous of working towards a fitness goal, your resolution must be to go out every day and spend an hour for yourself on the tracks running or on the road cycling or in the gym.

Consistency is the key to achieving any desired result. Realize the power of compounding. A 1% improvement every day can transform you by 3770% in a year. That is significant.

?I have known people who set a goal of doing a half marathon within a year only to abandon the goal within a month. The trick is to increase your distance by just 1% over the previous day.

?Set sensible and achievable resolutions. Focus on the input measures and the outcome will surprisingly turnout to be far better than what you would’ve envisaged.

?As even Lord Krishna has said it 5000+ years ago: “Focus on the Action and NOT the Fruits of that Action”. So reflect and reinvent yourself in the coming years. Go ahead and write yourself one of your best scripts this year.

Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year 2022 and Beyond.

I will be happy to hear various views and your thoughts on my article.

About the Author: Venkatesh V.C. (aka VC)

Venkatesh V.C. is the founder & director of The Strategy Labs. He is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Science and IIM Bangalore, with over 28 years experience, as an IT and Management consultant to marquee firms.

He is a Speaker, Trainer and Consultant to Small & Medium sized IT firms with focus in Financial Services and Retail-CPG.He is an avid Marathon runner and endurance Cyclist and Triathlete. He can be reached at [email protected]

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