rjzeller

Stolen from O.S. Card's latest article:

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. Oh, I know people make them. Or at least they claim they're making them. But just because they happen at New Year's doesn't mean they're resolutions.

Here's Uncle Orson's Unfriendly Guide to New Year's resolutions:

1. If you didn't write it down, it's a passing thought, not a resolution.

2. If you don't have a specific plan for achieving a goal, it is not a resolution.

3. If you have not made an open covenant with the people whose respect you most care about, it is not a resolution.

In other words: "I'm going to lose weight!" is an idle boast, not a resolution. "I'm going to lose twenty pounds!" is a wish, not a resolution. "I'm swearing off carbs!" is just stupid, not a resolution.

"I'm going to follow this explicit diet plan and do these exact exercises on this precise schedule until I have lost twenty pounds" -- and you've written it down and shown it to spouse and children and co-workers, asking for their cooperation in helping you achieve your goal -- now that's a resolution.

"I'm going to get out of debt" is a dream, not a resolution. "I'm going to cut up my credit cards" is not a resolution, it's a cry of despair.

"Here is where our money went last year; these are the things we are no longer going to do, so we can apply that money to our credit card debt. We will not use credit cards for anything except the following categories of purchases. If we do not have at least $X surplus out of every paycheck, we will cut back further."

Real resolutions are rare. But I've seen them. I've seen the family that decided to sell their expensive house and move to a more modest neighborhood, so they could pay off the (cheaper) house early and live without debt.

I've seen similar radical changes made so that one spouse could stay home with the children and the family could live comfortably on one income.

If you're serious about change, you will be realistic about what it takes to achieve the goal, and you will immediately start to do what it takes. Nothing will stop you.

That's what a resolution looks like. Only grownups know how to make and keep them. And they don't have to wait till New Year's.

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There are 10 kinds of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who do not.