About this time of year you start to see people posting about everything they accomplished throughout the year and what their New Year’s Resolutions are. I suppose it’s natural and proper to do so. After all, it’s not every day when you go to bed in one year and wake up in another. It feels like a good a time as any to think about such things. My trouble is I hate the word resolution. It’s a name you give for something that most likely will never happen. Congress makes resolutions. The language of Washington is filled with proclamations that use some form of the word resolve, “Resolved, the 119th Congress of the United States does hereby declare that….followed by some lofty promise they have no intention of keeping. So, I never make resolutions. Instead I set goals. What’s the difference? Resolutions are basically positive thoughts. Goals are real and measurable. Here’s an example:
Resolution: I want to be a better listener in 2026.
Goal: Lose fifteen pounds…on January 1st 2025 I weighed 205 pounds. On December 31st 2025 I weighed 190. Killed it!!!
How’d you do with that “better listener” thing?
I’ve been setting goals since my freshman year at UofR. I’ve hit a bunch of them and missed a bunch too, but every goal I set had one thing in common—they were all getable. I never set ridiculous goals. I never write something down like—learn four foreign languages before the end of the year. First of all, I would have no chance and second of all, not something I really want to do in the first place.
So, what were my goals for 2025? I won’t list them all here because most of them are none of anyone else’s business. Each year I have fitness goals, relationship goals, writing goals, project goals and giving goals. My biggest “get” from 2025 was that I hit my 12,000 pushups goal. Matter of fact I hit all my fitness goals except my weight goal which remains stubbornly unchanged despite all the fitness heroics. But, the point is every goal I set last year was measurable. I nailed two of my giving goals and missed on the third. I totally whiffed on one of my project goals, but hit the other three.
Why set goals at all? Why can’t you just take life as it comes, live life one day at a time, go with the flow? Because sometimes “the flow” drifts towards disaster. Most of the time the proper course in life is against the current. Without a plan, without great intentionality, virtually nothing of value gets done in this world. I would rather attempt great things and fail than drift through living an unexamined and unchallenged life.
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