How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions
Everyday, for Eight Years, I'm Keeping All of 'Em
I’ve been overwhelmed by the support I’ve received from you since I announced the launch of my new initiative: Gruntled. Thank you so much. As promised, here’s the post on New Year’s Resolutions.
Life is all about being gruntled.
Not disgruntled but rather pleased and satisfied.
Years ago, here in Hollywood, a producer said to me, “Don’t ask, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ Instead ask, ‘How do I want to spend my days?’ The first question is daunting. The second one is empowering.”
Indeed, a path to happiness is defining what you want to do everyday and then, well, doing it.
Every single day, without fail, I do about twenty things on my To Do List.
I’ve become an informed citizen, expanded my musical knowledge, gotten ahold of my biggest nemesis (my email inbox) and finances, morphed into the best physical shape of my life, read thousands of pages of books, shown more gratitude, and stopped myself from saying the word “like,” like, every other sentence, like. How’d I do it?
It all started with a social experiment back in 2013 called the Year of The Hustle. I’ve been making resolutions for over 20 years and this is the only method that’s worked for me. 2023 has been the best professional and personal year of my life — and it was better than 2022, which was better than 2021, which was better than 2020 (though that year wasn’t a high bar).
My 11-Step Program
Make a Year of The Hustle calendar. Sadly, the company that used to make these no longer does; I haven’t been able to find a suitable replacement. But using the one above, you can create your own. The key is the place every day of the month in one line.
Think about the improvements you want to make — as a son, sister, husband, friend, citizen, etc. It helps to explore the different spheres of your life — mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, financial, etc.
Write out S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Tangible/Time-Bound). Tim Ferriss recommended converting any “be” statements to “do” statements. “Be a great chef” is hard to measure. “[Do] cook a delicious Thanksgiving dinner for six of my close friends” is easy to measure.
Prioritize the list. Personally, I put the most important one first (meditating). But then I added the easiest one in February and the hardest one in December. This way, I built momentum. As much as possible, only add one thing per month.
Hang up your Hustle calendar in a prominent place in your pad/office. Force yourself to look at it and others to ask, “What is that?” The more people enrolled in your success/failure, the more accountable you’ll feel and therefore be.
Start doing your first task on January 1. You may want to consider starting even earlier. You know, that momentum thing.
Track the items on your phone as you go through your day. (In the below pic, I’ll show you how I do mine, even though you may not understand each note-to-self.)
Mark an X on the calendar for every day that you do the task.
Add your next task on February 1. Add the next one on March 1. (Yes, they’re cumulative or it would only be a New Month’s Resolution.) I marked a blue X for every day that I meditated. But then I circled that X in green for every day that I did every other task. I marked a red circle for every day that I missed even one task. I would’ve marked a red X had I missed a day of meditating, but I didn’t, so.
Report your progress to your friends every month — on a blog/social media, to an email distribution, over a phone call. Whatever your thang is.
Celebrate in December how much more legit of a person you are.
Here are some suggestions. Obviously, yours will vary, but I figured it might help you brainstorm.
Meditate. (Calm helps.)
Do yoga.
Do 20 sit-ups.
Do 50 pushups.
Do 20 minutes of cardio.
Eat a piece of fruit.
Eat something green — a vegetable, not mold.
Take a multivitamin.
Drink x* oz. of water.
Floss.
Work on your craft (e.g., write standup) for 30 minutes.
Check your email only once a day (afternoon best).
Listen to an album or a podcast.
Wake up and go to sleep without your phone.
Read five news articles. (Pocket helps.)
Listen to or watch 30 minutes of news.
Learn and use a new vocabulary word.
Do the biggest task of the day first.
Pay somebody a compliment.
*x = your pound-weight in ounces, so a 200-lb person should drink 100 oz.
Good luck!
