Start Your New Year’s Resolutions Today

We’re in the homestretch of 2020. Hallelujah. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I want to change next year and what practices I want to keep going. People poo-poo the idea of New Year’s resolutions because “people just give up on them anyway.” I think this is faulty thinking. New Year’s resolutions are a great kick in the pants many of us need to get going.

I love the idea of New Year’s resolutions because it gets people out of their rut, even if only temporarily. The new year brings hope for a better tomorrow, hope that we can be better versions of ourselves. I just have one little twist to the standard New Year’s resolution…start today.

Most people don’t make it past the first month with their resolutions. We have just around a month to go before the new year. Why not have an unofficial pre-season to get yourself in resolution shape? Give yourself the month of December to practice your upcoming New Year’s resolution(s).

This gives you the opportunity to tweak it or discard it and pick a different one before 2021 even starts. And, if you like it, it gives you momentum coming into the new year. You’re not just starting to practice Spanish for the first time in January, you’ve already been doing it for a month. You have a month of writing more under your belt or exercising.

Instead of waiting until January 1st to realize meditating for two hours every day isn’t sustainable, give yourself this month to figure out what is sustainable. Maybe meditating every day just isn’t going to happen but meditating three times per week actually could work. Three times per week is better than zero times per week.

December is a free month where you get to try and fail and tweak and succeed guilt-free.

Spend the month of December figuring out what you want to improve about yourself and then start practicing. If you fall off the wagon, don’t give up. Figure out why you fell off, change that, and try again.

A Few Resolution Tips

Be specific. Don’t just say you want to meditate more. Make a specific plan for how long/often you want to meditate.

Start small. If you want to practice your writing every day don’t give yourself the obligation of writing an entire novel before you count your day as a success. Get in the habit of doing the resolution and worry about the intensity/duration after your habit is solidly in place.

Have daily/weekly actionable steps. Don’t just say, I want to write a novel this year. Have a plan for how much you want to write each day/week so that by sticking to your small attainable goals you’ll reach your larger goal.

Keep going when you fail. If you start the new year off strong but eventually fall off the wagon don’t be afraid to just start again. There is no 100% attendance award for going the entire year faithfully carrying out your resolution. The reward is self-improvement. Even if you stop practicing your resolution for several months it’s okay to simply start again.

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Check in With Yourself Before You Check in With the World

Staying Mentally and Physically Fit During Social Isolation

The Daily Struggle for Happiness

 

Check in With Yourself Before You Check in With the World

I’ve been doing an experiment of sorts lately where I check to see how I’m doing before I start scrolling through my phone. It’s a tip I heard from a Matthew McConaughey interview. In it, he said one of his life advice tips is to check in with yourself before you check in with the world. Spend ten or fifteen minutes in your own head before you start interacting with the online world.

Some people don’t need to do this. Their phone seems to have no negative impact on their morning. For me, there’s a marked difference in my overall sense of well-being when I take some time to drink my coffee and just sit before I start scrolling through endless tweets with bleary eyes.

Now that I’m attempting to become more mindful in general I’ve noticed that I can almost watch the gas tank of my mental well-being start to plummet if I start the day checking social media.

Along with ice baths, breathing, exercise, and a host of other simple remedies I’m starting to lift the fog as to what materials it takes to build myself a happier day.

Checking in with myself before I check in with the world is just another brick.

I’ve noticed that my good days or bad days aren’t dependent on what goes on outside my body and mind. Outside stimulus, in most cases, has virtually zero effect on whether or not I’ll have a pleasant day.

Maybe this brick isn’t useful for you. But give it a try. If you usually check your phone first thing in the morning try spending the first few minutes without it. Check-in with yourself first and see what that does to your overall mood.

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The Daily Struggle for Happiness

Staying Mentally and Physically Fit During Social Isolation

Why Your Phone is Making You Kind of Sad

The Daily Struggle for Happiness

“Happiness comes with a struggle.”-famous thinker

I’m sure that’s a quote from someone important. I think a lot of us are feeling a general sense of melancholy lately. Picking a few areas to purposefully struggle in has really helped me to avoid that feeling of I’m worthless, I didn’t do anything today. Maybe viewing productivity through this structure will help you. Continue reading “The Daily Struggle for Happiness”

Reader Case Study: Help! My Child is Acting Presidential

In today’s reader case study Help! My Child is Acting Presidential we look at what to do if your child is acting like the leader of the free world and not like the well-behaved child you raised them to be.

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Dear Frugality Police: I Just Spent $3,000 on Music Gear

Hello loyal followers. I have a confession: I just spent nearly three thousand hard-earned American dollars on music gear. Do I need to turn in my frugality card? Am I still allowed to be a personal finance blogger? How ashamed should I be in myself?

Continue reading “Dear Frugality Police: I Just Spent $3,000 on Music Gear”

How to Build the Most Popular Personal Finance Blog in the Universe

This article is mostly for my fellow bloggers (non-bloggers should read it too so that my bounce rate doesn’t spike) who are desperately trying to break through the noise and become cultural icons. Not everyone can spend only two years constantly writing and amass a following of over dozens of people. I’ve done just that. Today, I’ll share my secrets.

Continue reading “How to Build the Most Popular Personal Finance Blog in the Universe”

How to Lose Every Argument and Come Out a Winner

Why do we argue? This isn’t a rhetorical question or a call for people to stop with all the fighting. I just want people to think about what they’re trying to accomplish. Arguing can be incredibly beneficial, we’ve just been doing it wrong.

Continue reading “How to Lose Every Argument and Come Out a Winner”

The Great Mask Debate- Social Norms and the Use of Force

As with everything lately the great mask debate has become political. People are lining up on both sides of the aisle to ask two similar but completely different questions: Should you wear a mask in public? AND Should you be forced to wear a mask in public? Let’s discuss.

Continue reading “The Great Mask Debate- Social Norms and the Use of Force”

How to do Something Hard- The 5-Day Fast

***Daily updates posted at the bottom***
There are a lot of swears in this post but not because I’m mad. I’ve just cutely named future iterations of me catchy things like F*ck-This-Sh*t Me. F*ck-This-Sh*t Me is a key figure since this post is all about fasting and I’m pretty sure I’ll regret the whole thing by Monday afternoon but it’s a fun post. If you don’t want to read any swears the takeaway message is I’m doing a 5-day fast and it’s important to do hard things every once in a while.

Having just finished a delicious meal of pizza and fried-chicken, Late-June Me agreed to partake in a 5-day fast starting the week after July 4th because why not? “Wow, that’s so brave of Late-June You,” you might be thinking. Nope. Late-June Me is just an asshole. Continue reading “How to do Something Hard- The 5-Day Fast”

Caitlyn Jenner and the Importance of Open Dialogue

Today I want to talk about a trend that’s been troubling me. We seem to be lacking nuance lately. An insufficient amount of nuance is leading to a lack of open dialogue. Instead of engaging, it’s often easier to simply remove from our lives those we disagree with. Whether we’re discussing police brutality, systematic racism, or Caitlyn Jenner, I think it’s important to foster a culture of open dialogue. Continue reading “Caitlyn Jenner and the Importance of Open Dialogue”