I dont want to yuk your yum, but for me, 2018 didnt suck, I sucked in 2018.

I love New Years. I love seeing peoples New Year’s resolutions. I love seeing all the "out with the old, and in with the new" posts on social media. I love seeing hope, and optimism and outright intellectual dishonesty that surround this arbitrary day on the calendar. I don’t want to yuck your yum, but why do we think that just because the calendar flipped, that anything is going to change this year.

New Year’s resolutions are pretty universally mocked as being delusional. Everyone knows the jokes about how the gym is packed between January 1, and February 1… and all the gym regulars love February 2^nd when the gym starts to empty out again. Just like Vegas wasn’t built on winners, and everyone who goes there dreaming of the big pay day is kidding themselves, I feel the New Year’s resolution makers are kidding themselves too. I use to be one of these delusional people too. I made the traditional carbon copy New Year’s resolutions too. I would complain about how the year before sucked, and then make some grandiose resolutions that I had no chance of attaining, and I am almost sure I made my resolutions with the intention of failing. The point is, what makes me think that at 41, this list of resolutions will be more successful than the last series of idiocy were. 

My list use to look similar to everyone else’s

1)      Lose 75.26 lbs by spring

2)      Help end homelessness

3)      Make 100k for savings

4)      Buy my first Ferrari in time for summer

People, here is a piece of information we all need. Are you listening… 2018 didn’t suck, you sucked in 2018. Own it. I don’t want to be a product of the time, I want the time to be a product of me. Do not bring me your anecdotal examples of life shitting on you. Yes, someone out there probably had a helicopter fall on their mom, or their husband fucked his secretaries dad, and those things are not your fault and are a total drag. Not fun. However, for the most part, the course of your life is up to you.

I know there are no universal axioms, and everyone’s journey is specifically tailored to their own experiences. However, this is the entire point of being alive. Growth. Maybe some of us will have a harder hill to climb, and some of us have inherently better starting position. Hell, I am a white male... Life is thoroughly easier for me than for anyone in any other demographic. I understand upbringing, and how life events and circumstances shape us, and will effect where we are in life as it pertains to where we would like to be. Somewhere out there someone who has significantly less financial security than me, and maybe even is in worse physical shape than me, and had a worse socioeconomic starting point than me, has overcome much more than i have to just get where they are. The key is, where are you in terms of where you want to be, and what did you have to overcome to get there. Growth. Be better today than you were yesterday. The best part… we get to set the definitions. We all get to set our own definitions of success, and we all know if we are doing what it takes to get there. 

All of this supports my views on New Years resolutions. Regardless of who you are, or where your life currently is in regards to your goals, maybe you should be reformatting your resolutions. Instead of end goals, resolve to set better life habits. For me, 2018 was rough, because I am a shit pig. Instead of creating magical finish lines for wants and desires, I am going to resolve to create behaviors that will get me too where I want to be. I am my only barrier. 

Another aspect of the New Years resolutions that I find detrimental, is the lack of small measurables. Instant gratification. If all of your resolutions are grandiose, then as you fall short on them, it becomes easy to scrap the whole list. I am a firm believer that self esteem is created. True self worth comes from achievement. From figuring out whats important to us, and then working to achieve it. Being less concerned with people being proud of us, and being proud of ourselves instead.

This year I am going to reformat my resolutions to focus on behaviors that will help me achieve what I want, as well as small pieces of deliciousness that will help give me little moments of happy.

Here we go… a lot of thought went in to these

1)      Count my calories with intellectual honesty

2)      Dedicate one day a week to financial industry analysis to help see trends in lending so I can become a more successful sales rep

3)      Food prep so I don’t end up hungry without healthy options

4)      Get payback on “likes to be naked guy” and put MY butthole on something HE owns

5)      Go for a one mile walk every morning at 9 am (that’s noon in my sales territories time zone and a perfect time to take a break). Make it routine

6)      Invest 2% of my income in a non 401k investment portfolio

7)      Keep a journal of how my body feels after working out. See what parts of my body may be being detrimentally impacted so I can avoid injury

8)      Strive harder to remove sexist or other derogatory terms from my lexicon. Go from almost never to zero tolerance

9)      Visit SF for a baseball weekend with Jared and JD. This is very good for my mind frame

10)   While in SF, volunteer at the soup kitchen run by one of my former high school classmates (Paul Trudeau for those of you who remember him)

11)   Learn to dance by taking a class this summer

12)   Find a yoga studio and work on my core strength and joint health 

These are the steps that will aid in my overall progression. This will help me be more successful at work, more financially secure, and help me lose weight while increasing flexibility (making my body feel better and be healthier).

Be honest. Evaluate yourself with the right kind of eyes. 2018 probably didn’t suck so much as you  just behaved like a dumb shit last year. Set your resolutions accordingly.