There’s something psychologically powerful about a clear demarcation: a hard line between what was and what is or what you hope will be. The New Year is an invented day (in high dispute around the world), but it gives us a shared indicator of time passing, of a line between the old and new–and a time bound pressure to recognize those lines in our own circumstances.
But, while the numbers disagree from source to source, it’s clear that most of us fail New Years’ promises to ourselves by just a few weeks later. Setting and maintaining goals for a whole year is a big enterprise, and without training and support most of us are doomed to fail if all we say is “I’m gonna…”. We can’t wholesale reinvent ourselves with one good intention made because of an imminent deadline.
What we can do is write.
Hear me out. I often say it’s hard to write (it is), but writing is also a small, concrete change we can make to help us toward whatever our larger goals might be. Writing a goal down is often cited as the first step toward success: this gives us an artifact to post up on a wall or mirror or computer screen to remind us of that goal we set, how we hope to achieve it, and why we set it in the first place. Writing regularly, even in the smallest actual amounts, can help us work toward that goal–especially if it’s something habit-oriented or dependent on self-knowledge.
If your resolution is business-related, writing has other benefits in terms of building better record keeping habits and offering some kind of measurable data without having to depend on anyone else. Writing about your goals can also help you practice that first necessary step to producing the writing your business needs to thrive; if you’re getting in the habit of spewing something unfiltered every day (or every other day, or even just every week), you’ll be much more comfortable writing junk you can polish into something for your website or keynote or emails.
Don’t just take my word for it; here are some much more established sources offering advice that includes writing as a step:
- A 2012 Forbes article, because you’ve definitely already seen this advice elsewhere
- The NYT Guide to making and keeping a resolution
- This year, writing it down is the first step for entrepreneurs
- How to get started with a SMART goal, from Asana
If you have no other clear resolutions, resolve to write something–anything–at least once a week this year.
If you have other resolutions, consider how writing a plan or writing a check-in on that plan or writing through your motivations in choosing these steps might help you stick to them.
If you hate New Year’s resolutions (I sometimes find myself in that boat), maybe just take up a regular writing habit to help you with your existing goals and plans. I like to write, so I’m juggling anywhere from two to six notebooks at any given point–but one of them is always dedicated to my business writing, thinking about potential content here, possible marketing strategies, or even just workshopping client ideas. When I’m stuck, this notebook is the first place I go for help, since sometimes past-me was just a little more creative or a little less tired than now-me.
Writing is a tool, even if sometimes it feels like a major obstacle. Let’s put it to better use in 2023.
Something Polished 