Resolutions in Review

3. Put away clothes every night instead of dropping them on the floor.
2. Go to bed between 10 and 11 instead of after 11. (This one is tough – required me to give up some of my favorite TV shows!)
1. Floss every night.

Why Resolutions? Why Wednesday?

Uncommitted procrastinator or overwhelmed?  I’m not sure which I am, but my inability to get anything done seemed to have brought my life to a standstill.  I hate mess, but my house is filled with it.  I want to be seen as dependable at work, but am constantly getting things done at the last minute.  I’d like to lose 10 pounds, but eat ice cream almost every night.  It’s all very incongruous, and I finally boiled it down to one constant: my tendency to say, “Oh, I’ll just do it tomorrow.”  A lack of willpower to just get it done, let’s say.  But it left me feeling like my life was out of control.

So, while doing some internet browsing on how to build willpower, I came across the idea of starting with small, achievable goals.  Okay, great.  So instead of trying to clean my whole kitchen at once, I’ll just clean one tiny thing.  Riiight.  And in a month, the first thing I cleaned will be filthy again.  I’ll just clean the kitchen tomorrow.

But one Wednesday night, I was feeling especially energetic, and decided to try to make one small improvement to take my life back from the gods of inertia.  What was it?  Floss every night for a week.  I said it was a small improvement, didn’t I?  But, much to my surprise, I found myself flossing on Thursday, and then Friday, and Saturday, and yes, for the whole week.  Maybe setting that short-term goal really did motivate me to “just do it.”  And when the next Wednesday rolled around, I was ready to add one more little thing.  The next week, I started my Resolution on Monday.

I think Resolution Wednesday makes me feel successful for two reasons.  First, baby steps.  I can control whether or not I floss.  And having made that mental (and now public) commitment, I can try it for just a week, then continue or abandon as I see fit.  Second, Wednesday night is the perfect time to start something new.  If you’re anything like me, the tough part of the week is over, the weekend is quickly approaching, and I’m starting to relax.  Tasks seem less daunting, easier to accomplish.

Now, I admit, my kitchen still isn’t clean.  Let me do some easy things first.  One of these Wednesdays, I promise, I’ll scrub the oven.