How to Create Effective New Years Resolutions

Definable Goals = Success

I'm a big believer in resolutions and think New Years Day is a wonderful date to begin. If you are interested in creating a change in your life I'm going to share a few pointers to help make the transition as easy as it can be.

The first step is to create a resolution that can be easily measured. Instead of making some sort of global statement such as, "I want to be happy," create a goal that can be monitored and measured to see the change take place.

In preparation for this entry I did a little reading and found a list of the ten most common resolutions. Some were great--clearly defined and discrete--and others, well, not so much.

One great example is number four on the list, "I want to quit smoking. That is a very clear and really easy goal to measure. Simply quit smoking. If you go three days and then put one in your mouth, you have had three days of success. The next day give it another go and see how many days you can continue without smoking. This is a goal that is nice, simple and to the point.

What's an example of a bad goal? How about number five, "enjoy life more?" What does that mean? How can you measure "enjoying life?"

The spirit of the goal is wonderful--who wouldn't like to enjoy life more? But if you want that to be a goal, that is not the way to get there. You need to list specific activities that you enjoy and then determine how frequently--daily, weekly or monthly--you want that to occur.

For example, if you like going to art galleries, pick one day a week and go to a gallery. This still relates to enjoying life but now it has a real goal connected to it. Did you go to an art gallery last week? If so, you met your goal and should be one step closer to having a happier life. If not, find out what is keeping you from getting there and give it another shot. Congrats!

In a day or two we'll talk about the next step in the process--creating realistic goals.

Happy New Years!

P.S. To see the complete list of top ten goals click here

Foursquare Bookworm Badge Encourages Not Being Literate :(

reenforcement = results

My last posting about my love for Foursquare was a big hit--it seems a great many people also enjoy what the site has the potential to do. 

And I do see great potential. They encourage exercise and proper eating with all sorts of fitness badges. And they do, on occasion, promote events that get people out of doors and away from the 4G feed like going to museums or holiday events. 

So I was very excited seeing the new "Bookworm" badge on the site. All one needs to earn it is checking in at any three bookstores or libraries. Just to show what a literary type I am, I got mine after just one check in to the library--I guess I have a lot of book credit built up in the 4Sq ledgers. 

However, once I got the badge I was disappointed. Disappointed at the phrase that comes up once someone is rewarded the badge, "You Nerd." What is this folks? High school? Scratch that. Junior high? 

I know 4Sq is about having a sense of humor and many times I laugh even when their jokes push the envelope (check out the "Douchebag" badge to see what I mean). But isn't making fun of people who love books and reading past its prime as a gag? Isn't the anti-intellectualism that is so common in our country one of the problems we face as a nation? As a world? 

And it's not like 4Sq doesn't cheer on its users when they are doing "cool" activities. For example, when a member checks in after 3 AM at a club they are given a badge and told "Checking in after 3am on a school night? Well done!" Or when they check in to a site with three members of the opposite sex, they get tons of reinforcement:"Look at you, checking in with 3 members of the opposite sex! Player, please!" 

So why not marginalize reading? How great would it have been to see a remark like "Brains are the new sexy!" or "Ain't no stopping you now! What's the next book on your reading list?" 

Instead I get called a nerd for wanting to better understand the world. 

Stigmatize reading? Player please!

foursquare and World AIDS Day #turnred

For those of you who know me you may be aware of how much I love foursquare. It is one of the only sites I know that encourages its users to be active, to get out and explore the world and take part in it. Thanks to the site I have explored my city like I never would have and made a few friends along the way. 

I am plugging the site to get you all to join it and also to support a worthy cause--World AIDS Day 2010. For today only all you need to do is check in anywhere in your town and shouting “#turnred." Once you do so you will unlock a special badge commemorating the day and all the special work RED does. 

So join foursquare and while you are at it, friend me there. Who knows where we will check in together?