The Moffatt System for New Year's Resolutions
- Pick a few resolutions you absolutely want to keep. They can be as many or as few as you'd like, but I'd try to keep it as small as possible. I picked 10, which is probably excessive; I'd recommend 5 or less if this is the first time you've done it.
The resolutions can be anything you want, but they all must have one key property: They all must be something you can measure. "I'll go to the gym more often" is not an acceptable resolution under this system, but "Go to the gym at least 10 times every month" is. Half of my 10 resolutions are fitness related goals, such as "At some point in 2006, I will run 10K in under 50 minutes".
In every article or book I've read on resolutions, psychologists always recommend having goals where you can tell if you are suceeding or not. Under this system, knowing if you've succeeded or not is crucuial, as we will make a strategic precommittment which will be used if the goal is not met.
- Pick a sum of money you will pay for each goal that is not met. It must be something that is painful to give up (in order to inspire you to meet your goal), but it must at the same time be plausible. In my case, I will pay $400 for each goal that is not met. This is a painful amount of money for me, particularly if I miss all my goals, but is one that could be given up without dire consequences to my family.
- Make a list of friends that you are comfortable sharing your goals with. In my case, I chose 20 friends. You do not need to choose that many - 5 or more is enough.
- Divide the amount of money by the amount of friends. In my case, $400/20 = $20 per person. You may want to adjust the number of dollars or the number of friends so this works out to a round number. Then send a personal letter to each of those friends announcing that you will pay each of them the dollar amount you calculated for each goal that is missed. You'll also want to add a few conditions under which such a promise becomes void - in mine I mention that my fitness goals are null if I suffer an injury which is serious enough to warrant an extended visit to a hospital. My letter starts as:
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Dear Hannah,
I have chosen you to help me stick to my New Year's Resolutions. In order to achieve all the goals I have for myself, I will pay you the sum of $20 on the first day of 2007 for each of these goals which is not met:
1. At some point in 2006, I will run 10K in 50 minutes or less.
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You can fill in the rest from there. But you get the idea.
- It makes your resolutions far more realistic. Perhaps the biggest problem we have when we make New Year's Resolutions is that we pick things we cannot possibly achieve then get upset with ourselves when we do not meet those goals. Since we're paying money if we do not meet our goals (though I like to think of it as getting rewarded for success!), we're far more likely to make goals that we can actually accomplish. There's no better feeling that accomplishing something you set out to do; such successes do not happen when you set unrealistic goals.
- It gets your friends involved. I've found that while my friends might joke or laugh about getting $20 (or whatever sum you set), they are really interested in seeing you succeed. But they will constantly remind you of your goals and the money, which will help you stay focused with all of life's other distractions.
