I’ve never been the new year resolution-making type mainly because I know I never have the persistence to keep up with them. I am, however, not averse to the concept of resolutions themselves because, to me, making resolutions is just like making goals to better yourself. And everyone could do with some self-improvement.
The problem, though, is how to keep working at it to reach the goals you have set for yourself. NBC’s TV series The Office mentions that most resolutions are given up on by February. Mine definitely fall in the ‘most’ part of that statement. While I did not employ this acronym in what I am about to share, thinking about goal-setting brings to mind the S.M.A.R.T of goal-making – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. And for some reason the plan I am about to share bears these 5 characteristics. (I’m hoping that’s a good sign.)
But first, some background. I was feeling rather lazy this December and so I was particularly convinced that I needed to draw up a plan to reorganise my life. I already knew that if I made resolutions (like everyone else), I would forget about them in a week or two. So the hubs came up with a plan to have pre-assigned rewards for each item we achieved. After a few rounds of discussion, this is the result:
Credits: Juxxtapose
Credits: Juxxtapose
The first idea was inspired by loyalty cards shops give to you. Like maybe every $20 spent gives you a stamp, and 10 stamps give you a free meal.
We took time to think specifically about what we wanted to do – in this case, hitting the gym (or any pre-approved substitute like a set amount of exercise at home) 3 times a week. If we take each month to have 4 weeks, that’s 12 times a month. So for every 12 times (or a month’s worth) we hit the gym, we were entitled to a reward. We didn’t want to be constrained by having to work-out 12 times a month either (what if we go on holiday or something). We basically just wanted to make sure we worked out 12 times x 12 months = 144 times in 2015. So we designed it such that we could do the work outs anytime we wanted as long as we eventually hit the total number of times. So for every one month’s worth of exercise (i.e 12 times, 12 stamps), we get something we really want. We also catered boxes for 12 more sessions just in case we exceeds our own expectations (optimistic, I know). And the reward for that last one will be a big one!
The rewards have to be something to really want and would work for. The catch is, obviously, that if you don’t achieve it, you cannot get it, period. So for example, if a day at the spa was the reward after the 24th time at the gym, you have to know that you cannot under any circumstances, let yourself enjoy a day at the spa between now and the 24th time. And even if you make something as simple as a meal at McDonald’s a reward treat, you cannot have McDonald’s until you hit the mark. That’s what makes it a reward. I’m still in the process of choosing wisely.
Credits: Juxxtapose
The second idea was inspired by the Young Scientist Cards we used to have in Primary School. Apparently, after doing a quick online search, the programme is still in existence. The gist of the programme is this: to encourage students to do science projects in a particular field, let’s say zoology, the student is given a Young Zoologist Card. In it, are a variety of zoology-related projects of varying difficulties, that are assigned star-values based on said difficulty. So maybe, ‘Visit the zoo and draw 5 animals from different classes’ is worth one star, while ‘Make a life-sized model of a cobra’ is worth 3 stars (I don’t know, I’m just making up projects here). The student can choose to do any of the projects listed, but ultimately has to collect 20 stars to get the Young Zoologist Badge (which I can proudly say I have).
We employed this concept to the goals we had that were applicable. I wanted to complete more crochet projects (which would be of varying difficulties), and the hubs wanted to learn to cook a wider variety of dishes. The projects we chose could be decided on along the way, hence the boxes were left blank. For me, perhaps, wooly socks for the hubs would be worth one star, and maybe crochet vest or bag would be worth three. Every 6 stars collected would entitled me to one of the 6 rewards up for grabs.
We left a lot of the details flexible. For example, I could rush 5 projects in the 1st month and laze around for the next 2 months if I wanted to. Basically, we decided on what we wanted to do within the next year, and left the ‘which part of the year we do it’ up to our future selves. We know that we need the flexibility. We once tried the 7 minute exercise app where we had to log in and exercise with the app’s fitness trainer voice everyday without fail. The app only gives you 3 chances to miss ‘training’ before it declares that you did not make it consistently for a month or 3 months or something. Needless to say, once you miss a day or 2, it becomes disheartening because your in-app track record of exercising XX days in a row is reset to zero. Nobody likes a big fat ZERO staring you down. We, or maybe I, abandoned it. The flexibility we factored in created room for slipping up once in a while (as all humans do), and made it seem more achievable on a whole.
Of course, resolutions like being a better friend or wife do not get reward cards drawn up. Firstly, how do you measure these things? Counting the number of times you say ‘I love you’? Secondly, you don’t get to buy yourself a new dress just because you remembered the birthdays of all your family members. You’re already supposed to. Also, I wanted to read more in 2015, but reading in itself is pleasurable for me, so no rewards for doing something I already like doing.
After rationalising why we did all this, I still cannot tell you whether it will work (I’ll let you know at the end of next year). All I know is that we looked at the reasons for our past failures, we asked ourselves want we really wanted to do, and we tried to create a system that we would work for us (and that we couldn’t cheat our way through). I would love to hear how you’re planning to stick with your resolutions, and if you’ve tried something similar, I would like to hear about how it has worked out for you. And if you spot any loopholes, please do tell, because if my future self finds a way to cheat the system, she will.
Juxxtapose 