The New Year’s Resolution No One Makes

The Steps to Achieve Anything in 2024

Here we are again. The end of the year (I won’t say the usual, but you know what it is).

The holiday season is like organized chaos. Running around, errands, shopping, baking, and countless gatherings. Some of us love this time of year. At the same time, others can’t stand it. For them, the holidays are like a mixture of a mosh pit and Fruit Cake. Geez.

Whatever category you align with, one thing we all look forward to is the new year. Think about it. New Year’s is a chance to hit the reset button and start over. It’s the one time of year we promise to improve ourselves and our lives.

The problem is most New Year’s resolutions fall by the wayside. How many of us can look around our homes and see an unused exercise machine, running shoes you wear for anything but, and a bag of Double Stuffed Oreos in the kitchen cabinet? Reality.

The reason resolutions fail is that the foundation for success is never established. Build a house on sand, and it sinks. Build on solid ground, and a home will last forever.

Let’s start laying the foundation a bit early.

Old Habits…

You’ve heard the phrase, “Old habits never die.” It’s no wonder that self-improvement is a $40 + billion per year industry. Who doesn’t want to improve themselves?

But let’s not overlook the “why” behind the revenue. The reason why self-improvement is so lucrative is because most fail to achieve their goals. People keep trying and failing but continue to throw gobs of money at the problem.

U.S. News and World Report show that 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by mid-February. The high failure rate is mainly because most people set ambitious and unrealistic goals. When immediate results are not achieved, the attempts are abandoned.

However, for the 20% that stuck with it, only 9% lasted the entire year. These numbers prove one thing: self-improvement is a b**ch, and we’re doing it wrong.

The Devil, you know.

I haven’t read Shakespeare in decades, but remember a few quotes. The one that resonates the most is, “To thine own self be true.” In other words, be true to yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses and make decisions based on those characteristics.

For example, if you want to quit drinking alcohol but still hang out in clubs and bars, you’re likely to drink. If you want to lose weight but fail to prepare a menu for the week, you will likely order out and eat unhealthy food.

Losing weight is one of the year’s top three New Year’s resolutions. The main reason weight loss is never achieved is based on unrealistic goals with little chance of success.

When a person sets a weight loss goal of 20 lbs, and they don’t see immediate results, they give up. They should set a more achievable goal of 1 lb per week. Small wins add up. Plus, when we win, we get motivated to continue. Our brains get a dopamine hit from the victory, and we’re likelier to continue with the resolution.

The Foundation

Okay, we’ve seen what happens when we build on sand. How do we build a stronger foundation? What’s the one thing that makes any resolution achievable?

Time.

Think about the value of time. We all need more of the one thing we can’t buy. The secret to achieving any goal is time, and I’ll prove it.

Let’s pretend momentarily that you’re walking on a tropical beach and see a shiny object projecting out from the white sand. You reach down and discover a golden lamp (stay with me). You begin to polish the lamp, and out pops a Genie. The grateful Genie has the power to grant you one wish. After a moment, you wish for all the money in the world. Bam! In an instant, piles of cash, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds are laid before you. You thank the Genie and go your separate ways.

Now that you have immense wealth, you list New Year’s resolutions for 2024. Let’s go through a few scenarios of what that could look like.

Weight loss:

Now that you’re rich, you begin traveling the world and eating exotic and rare dishes. Every whim becomes your delight. How does the money shed pounds? You may be able to afford every exercise machine on the planet and own a gym, but money does not provide the incentive or the motivation to lose weight.

Quit Drinking Alcohol:

You don’t need to drive yourself when you’re super wealthy. You can drink as much as you want because you don’t need a job and have no one you are accountable to. Where is the incentive to quit? When your liver begins to fail from the alcohol, will money make you healthy? Maybe you can afford to buy a new liver, but do you want to go through a liver transplant simply because you want to keep drinking?

Love:

Since you’re newfound wealth, beautiful people from across the globe throw themselves at your feet. You can choose from any of the most exotic and gorgeous humans on the planet. Do you think any of them will love you? Or will they love the money? Can you trust any of them with your life? Money can’t buy love.

These are a few examples of what money can’t give you. Besides, plenty of wealthy individuals are miserable, lonely, and have health problems. Money can’t cure cancer, alcoholism, and depression. Pain affects everybody. Money doesn’t make you happy; it eliminates a few financial issues.

Time Wealth

If money can’t buy time, then it is priceless. Therefore, if time is priceless, then it is the most valuable commodity you can have.

This is the mindset for achieving New Year’s or any resolution goal you set. With Time Wealth, anything is possible.

Let’s revisit our examples from a time perspective and see how outcomes change.

Weight Loss:

With extra time on your hands, you can set more reasonable and manageable weight loss goals. You’ll have time to go to the gym, exercise, and outdoor activities. Each has proven to be beneficial for losing weight.

Quit Drinking Alcohol:

Additional time in your daily life allows for counseling and therapeutic sessions with professionals to help you achieve an alcohol-free life. Plus, when schedules open up, you can attend meetings and social support groups to further your sobriety efforts.

Love:

Time wealth gives you many options for improving family and love life issues. The extra time gives you an advantage during dating and relieves the pressure of making hasty decisions.

The time wealth mindset revolves around creating and managing your time better so you can use that time to work on any resolution or self-improvement issue.

Make Time

Self-improvement requires discipline and introspection. If you want improvement, you must accept change. To change, you need two things: desire and commitment.

If you think you don’t have the time to work on resolutions or any goals, you’re wrong. You don’t know where to look, and nobody ever bothered to help you find it.

Time for a bit of accountability. If you want success, you have to be brutally honest with yourself. Examine your life and list everything you do, and I mean everything.

Step 1:

List everything from brushing your teeth in the morning to flossing at night before bed and everything in between. I’ll wager you’ve never done that before. Repeat for every day of the week.

Now, separate the items on the list into four columns — a column for necessities, routines, habits, and goals. I’ll help you with the first item, necessities.

Necessities:

Food
Water
Shelter
Income
Health

Naturally, there are other necessities you could include, like love and family. I get that, but list the bare essentials for now to create time to achieve your resolution goals.

Other than these five necessities, everything else is optional to survive. Also, smoking, drinking, and binge-watching are habits and routines. Be thorough, and don’t leave anything out.

Once your lists are complete, move on to the next step.

Step 2:

Examine every item on your list and cross off the ones directly associated with your necessities. For example, brushing your teeth is a necessary routine because I said so. Plus, I’m bothered by bad breath. Remember, the things you cross off are essential for living.

Cross off anything that relates to health as well. This includes any healthy routines like exercise or therapy sessions.

Step 3:

Circle the remaining items on your list. Now, create a new list of the circled items on one side and your goals on the other, and rank them by priority from top to bottom.

If any of the circled items do not help you achieve anything on the list of goals, place a checkmark next to them.

These items rob you of the time to achieve your resolution goals.

Step 4:

Choose one resolution goal from the list based on your priorities and use the extra time you discovered to crush that goal.

Build Your House

Think of the wasted time and effort you put into bad habits. Every time you smoke a cigarette, it’s not the smoking that consumes time but also everything associated with it.

Get dressed (time)
Warm the car (time and money)
Drive to the store (time and money)
Buy the cigarettes (time and money)
Drive home (time and money)
Get comfortable (time)
Smoke (time and money)
Clean up (time and money)

This is just one bad habit; you can see the time and money it robs you of. Imagine the time you’ll gain when you eliminate bad habits.

Instead of continuing bad habits, use your time wealth to create new and healthier ones. You need this foundation to achieve your goals because you’ll gain time and lose the excuses.

Resolutions Reached

With time wealth comes freedom — the freedom to choose the resolutions you set on your terms and time. No pressure and no stress.

The key to success lies in your strategy. Push too hard and create lofty goals, and you’re bound to fail. Utilize your time wealth to set achievable goals with quick wins, and your string of victories will boost enthusiasm and provide the momentum to keep you going.

Any great structure ever built took time and decades to complete. They withstand the test of time because they took time to make. They were not hastily pieced together. Because if they were, they wouldn’t be standing. It’s the same with resolutions. Impatience does not pay off, but persistence does.

You don’t have to wait until January 1st to start your New Year’s resolution. Why wait? Work on your list, prioritize your goals, and start today. Begin 2024 with a head start and a bang!

I have already started. How about you?

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