Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Resolutions the Seinfeld way

I've never been good at New Year's resolutions. Every year in my teens and 20s I made a resolution to dunk a basketball. Even back then I had the hops of a Galapagos turtle. And I didn't exactly acquire more hang time as I got older. So that resolution is pretty much dead unless I buy one of those Fisher-Price goals.

This year I approached the resolution thing a different way. Here are my three resolutions for 2008:

1. Exercise 30 minutes every day.
2. Eat healthy every day.
3. Write at least 500 words every day.

You notice the common thread of "every day." I used to have resolutions like "write a novel" or "run a 10K," but those are long-term goals and easy (at least for me) to give up on somewhere around, let's say, the second day of January. This year I'm going to try to accumulate small changes over time and hope they turn into something big. Sort of like throwing a few bucks every week into an IRA.

The way I'm keeping track is through a Seinfeld chain, which (if the story's true) comes from the way Jerry Seinfeld puts together his material. Every day that he writes something, he marks it on a calendar. Eventually the marks make a chain. And then the goal is not to break the chain.

This isn't an original idea, of course, but it's simple and effective -- if you don't break the chain, you're almost guaranteed to succeed at your larger goals. (A free printable Seinfeld chain is here -- make sure to get the leap-year version for '08.)

So what are your resolutions? And if you've actually kept any over the years, how'd you do it? Educate us in the comments.

21 comments:

Martina said...

this year, i plan to learn about and celebrate in some way every holiday in every faith. it's a small way to connect with different traditions around the world in a fun way.

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Anonymous said...

Theoden Janes has a peanut head

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Bippity Boppity Boo

Anonymous said...

Me make poopy

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Anonymous said...

Sweet's here

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Dipping sauce?

Anonymous said...

Sum Ting Wong

Anonymous said...

Look, Russell Tucker shaved his head since high school. Nice try...

Anonymous said...

Who's the King of Kong???

Anonymous said...

I play Marble Madness

Anonymous said...

I'm out...

Anonymous said...

But don't forget to buy the fabulous new novel "Tiger Man" available online.

Anonymous said...

Ancient Chinese Proverb: Man who run in front of car get tired

Anonymous said...

Man who run behind car get exhausted