New Years Resolution? Not for me!

Many people that I know tend to chose a New Years Resolution that they want to stick to.  No matter what it is many people don’t make it past the first week with these resolutions and the feelings tend to make them more demoralized than they were before.  Personally I do not set a New Years resolution.  “Why?” you might ask.  I personally feel that setting one goal that is often an obscure far reaching goal that you fantasize of obtaining is only setting yourself up for failure and let down.  I personally set goals, now maybe this is my sport background or my competitive nature but I feel that this is a better way for me.  I do not set goals that are “low hanging fruit” so to speak but I set some that I know are achievable in the year’s time frame and then some that will be a challenge for me.  I have found this to be very beneficial for me for three main reasons:

1. There are multiple things that I would like to achieve so if I don’t meet one it is not a complete failure for the entire because I didn’t make it.
2. Some of them seem to be long shots when I am planning them and I might not make them but it makes me continue to strive to be my absolute best.
3. I make them defined so I know what success is.  Much like a sport and training you can leave your goals vague and then success is up to your decision where if you have a quantitative aspect to it you will be able to gauge the level of success.

So you might be wondering “What sort of thing should I do as a goal for the year?”  Here is my recommendation.  Make more than one goal, I personally chose 10, this allows for many things to strive for but gives you stepping stones to success.  Make your goals something you desperately want or desire, but more importantly be sure it is your goal and not someone else’s.  The drive must be from within, otherwise you will dread the task of getting to your goal and drastically reduce your rate of success.  So to give you an idea of what I mean here are 5 of my 2012 goals:

1. Be a better father and husband for my family: Put down the cell phone, put away the laptop and enjoy the time that I have available with them by giving them my undivided attention.
2. Win RAAM 4 man team: This is very high hanging fruit but if I am going to do something I am going to do my best to win.
3. Increase power at Threshold by 20 Watts by June: Consistent training and hard work is the only way too get there.
4. Get more consistent sleep:  Sleep no less than 6hrs and no more than 8hrs/night unless I am sick.  Bed time consistent w/in 30min of 10:30pm
5. Stay Positive: Stop negative talk and thoughts, Positive self talk and surround yourself with positive people.  Strive for a “get to” attitude versus a “have to” attitude.

So, as you look at a lot of my list you may notice that they are all fairly simple in terms of what to do but a lot of them are related around RAAM.  This is a large event for me and my teammates and I do not want to let them down so 2012 up until June is almost solely centered around the race.  After June I have other goals as well but they are on a different level.  If you have someone who can hold you accountable that you are willing to share your goals with do so.  Be sure it is someone that won’t nag you but someone to support, encourage and keep you honest.  I have set my goals as a recurring meeting in my phone for Monday mornings and I hope that I will start each week with a positive reminder of what I am striving for.  I do not know how this reminder will work but I will let you know!  Do it because you want to, not because you have to, and love every minute of it!