Ahhh, it’s that time again. A count down at midnight will transition us all into a brand-new year. With that, as we have many times before, many of us will make large and foolish promises to ourselves that we intend to keep for the next three hundred and sixty-five days. Most of us will not be able to keep the promises we make. A lot of us may fail by the end of January. Some of us will make it as far as March. Few will make it all the way to June, and perhaps a tiny trickle, maybe one or two of us will be celebrating up-keeping our promises and basking in our accomplishments around this time next year. Even so, the same many of us will create new promises to ourselves for next year, and the cycle will continue.

Why? Why do we keep doing this to ourselves, and despite how many times we try, why do we keep failing? Well, I think that it’s because the promises we make are often too grand and we expect to adhere to them for far too long. Deciding on January 1^st that we’re going to go to the gym and complete a full work out three times a week for a full year just with the hope we’re going to wind up with the body we’ve been longing for when before January, we were in no such habit, well… that’s insane. Our New Year’s Resolutions far too often are of us setting expectations far too high.

So, this year, I’m going to try something a little different. I’m going to pick three tiny, easy tasks; one for my body, one for my mind, and one for my well-being, and I’m going to try to uphold them until March. I’m going to give myself quarterly resolutions.

For my first resolution, I’m going to walk on my treadmill for ten to fifteen minutes every day. Easy. Ten to fifteen minutes isn’t a long time to set aside daily, and surely, this is something I’m able to accomplish. It is my hope that there will be days that my ten to fifteen minutes on the treadmill will inspire me to extend my work out further, but on days where I’m not able to, or on days where I’m simply not in the mood, then at least I can still feel proud knowing that I accomplished the very small goal I set for myself.

Of course, expecting that without fail, I will be able to be on the treadmill every single day for three months is still kind of hefty. Life happens and I’m sure I will run into days where there is no feasible way to accomplish my goal. My plan there is to practice forgiveness for myself. I will not allow myself to feel guilty or ashamed if I miss a day here or there. Instead, I will allow myself to have the mindset of, “it’s okay. There’s always tomorrow.” To avoid snowballing procrastination, I will allow myself a total of a three-day grace period. If I miss day one and day two, then I must hop back on the treadmill on day three. I will not allow myself to go any longer than three days in a row without being on my treadmill for ten to fifteen minutes. That is my plan for my resolution for my body.

My second resolution is a similar principle. Every day until the end of March, I will play my piano for a minimum of fifteen minutes. The days I’m inspired to play for longer, practice harder, or explore more, I will be elated by. Still, if I only have the energy on one day or another to play the same, tired songs I’ve had memorized for years, then I can still feel good at the end of the day knowing I’ve accomplished my goal. I will forgive myself for days I may skip the same as I will with my treadmill, and I will allow myself only the same three-day grace period as I’ve allowed myself for my treadmill, too. One small task with loose boundaries and an easy time frame, and with room for expansion when the mood strikes. Surely, I can maintain that for three months.

My third and final resolution is, as mentioned, for my well-being. My soul craves imagination and is delighted and calmed by wonder so my choice for this resolution is to read once a week. Easy. I have two thick books of short stories and surely, once a week for three months, I can find the time to select either one of the books and read a small story. If I’m inspired to read more, then I’ll allow myself to. Perhaps I’ll choose a book that carries one tale and I’ll go chapter by chapter instead of story by story. I’ll decide in accordance with whatever feels right and manageable. Just the same as my other two resolutions, I will not feel guilty or ashamed if I miss reading a week. Because weeks are far sparser than days, I will only give myself an allowance of a one-week grace period to skip.

When March comes around, I will re-evaluate my resolutions. If perhaps, I find that promising myself to be on the treadmill daily is too unrealistic, I can rethink my choices and promise myself to be on it every second day instead. If I find that I’m spending more than fifteen minutes a day on the piano regardless of my goal, maybe I’ll move my goal up to be a half hour. If I decide that one resolution doesn’t fit altogether, maybe in March, I’ll decide to erase it and replace it with a new goal. I will then re-evaluate again in June, and a final time in September.

With small goals, the ability to adjust when necessary, and room to grow and forgive with each, I intend to succeed in my resolution this year. If you would like to join me in this newly structured way of a resolution, I would love to hear your personal plans in the comments!