Instead of setting New Year Resolutions, do this instead.

Just like you, I’ve fallen into the “New Year, New Me” trap before. It never worked because all New Year Resolution does is creating an excuse to procrastinate now.

“It’s okay to eat those Christmas cookies in December. I’ll wait until January to lose weight.”

“I’ll wait until January to pick up that skill.”

And what happens when 1/1 comes along? You wait for the next Monday, and the following Monday, and so on. New Year resolutions don’t work unless you hold yourself accountable and track progress. Do you know what works? Writing down your goal and taking action now. Even the smallest step will get you closer to your vision than waiting.

Every single day, I write down my dreams and goals. Some days I write because I need to remind myself of my life priorities beyond work. Some days I write because I need to feel the intangible vision coming to life. Some days I need to give myself permission, directions, and structures. Writing reinforces who I want to be and gives me clarity on what actions I need to take to get there. With that clarity, I can then break down the tasks to something reasonable.

This is how it looks in practice.

Write: “I’m fluent in stock investing.”

Action: 1. Log onto Robinhood. 2. Read a book on investment

Smaller action: Put Robinhood on the first page of my phone screen. 2. Go down to the basement and listen to ebooks.

By breaking the task down, I can make tangible progress, and each small step adds up to something much bigger. For more practice on building long lasting habits, I recommend the books “Atomic Habits” and “The Compound Effects.”