Can I just start by asking, right now, that we all agree henceforth to use the highly efficient “twenty-eleven” – instead of persisting with two thousand blah-be-di-blah? That’s so last year. Can you imagine the twisted tongues if we’d spent the entire 20th century saying things like nineteen hundred and fourscore?
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I wish all of you a very, very happy New Year and hope that twenty-eleven brings you much peace, joy and love.
If you’re in the mood to set a New Year’s resolution or two, you’re not alone. Folks across the continent are at this very moment resolving to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, spend less money. (I have plotted for myself the mundane yet surprisingly effectual goal of brushing for the full two minutes.)
Of course, the vast majority of these good intentions will have gone down the drain by about March. I’ve researched and written a few articles on making resolutions and breaking bad habits (here, here and here), so this I know: Change is most likely to be successful when it’s not overwhelming, but actually doable. Instead of vowing to lose forty pounds, say the experts, tell yourself you’re going to lose five or ten. Then decide how that will fit into your lifestyle. And break it down into small, manageable goals. And remember to celebrate the little milestones along the way.
So maybe your New Year’s plan is to do a bit more good out there. Wonderful! But before you set yourself an impossibly lofty expectation, like raising four million dollars for world hunger or personally adopting every poor creature from the humane society, do a reality check. What’s a reasonable goal? To do a good deed a day? A good deed a week? Or is it just to pay a little more attention on the subway, so you’re ready to give up your seat to a senior or help a parent struggling with a stroller? Is it simply to walk the long route to work, so you can pick up litter in the park along the way? These may seem like small resolutions. But they make a difference. They are good.
And what’s more, by giving up your subway seat or walking that extra six minutes, you’re also well on your way to losing those pesky five pounds. Call it karma.
So what’s your New Year’s resolution? Please share!
50 Good Deeds 