A Resolution on Resolutions

It’s time!  No, not time to do your last minute holiday gift shopping… it’s time for you to make your New Years Resolutions!  Each December, somewhere between millions and billions of people worldwide (yes, I counted) begin to feverishly plan for the new year by setting goals for the coming 12 months.  And you might be one of them!  Maybe you’ve set New Years Resolutions such as:

“I’m going to go to the gym every morning.”

“I’m going to stop compulsively checking Twitter.”

“I’m going to write a blog post every month."

(Hey wait a second… that last one was MY resolution!)

Anyway, these are all admirable resolutions, as are many others.  But what inevitably ends up happening for most of the millions to billions of resolving people is that the adherence to the goals lasts for a few days, or maybe even a couple of months, then the behavior begins to slide for a little bit (e.g. the gym visits begin to happen every other week or so…), then disappear altogether, waiting for the next December to roll along so that the resolutions can be reinitiated (e.g. This time I’m really going to stop compulsively checking Twitter…)

So, what can we do to make useful resolutions to which we can stick?

Well, there is a lesson to be taken from the world of business.  Here, let me explain…

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (“KPIs”)

Many business owners or executives have come across a catchy term called “KPIs” or “Key Performance Indicators”.  These refer to measures of business activity which are main drivers of success.  KPIs can, and should, be different for different businesses, since much of what drives success for a single-location coffee shop differs from what drives success for a global appliance manufacturer.

My general guidance on setting successful KPIs is that they should be RAMA:

(a) Relevant

(b) Actionable

(c) Measurable

(d) Achievable

(Yes, I’ve arranged these to spell out an incarnation of Vishnu.  And, while I’ve seen other others suggest additional desirable KPI qualities, such as “Visible,” “Timely,” and “Simple,” I think these are implicit in the above four -- and, more importantly, you can’t spell “Rama” with a “V”, “T”, or “S”.)

I won’t go on at length here about the art of setting KPIs (maybe I should resolve to do a post on that in the future…), since this is a post about Resolutions.  But the reason I connect KPIs (measurements of business performance) to Resolutions (goals for individual performance), is that I believe the same 4 qualities necessary for meaningful KPIs, are also the qualities needed for successful Resolutions.

And this makes sense — KPIs need to be driven by goals.  If a business only checks KPIs, without a sense of either why they’re desirable benchmarks, or how to achieve/meet them, then they’re of no value.  Similarly, with Resolutions, if a person only sets resolutions, without a sense of why they’re meaningful, and how to achieve/meet them, then they’re of no value either.

THE RAMA OF RESOLUTIONS

So, let’s take a look at how RAMA can help us set meaningful New Years Resolutions, and actually let’s work our way backwards through the qualities (so… AMAR!)…

d) Achievable: If your goal is too crazy, you’re either going to give up early, or not even try.  For example, if you haven’t worked out in 3 years, then don’t set a Resolution of doing an Ironman triathlon this year.  Rather, set a more reasonable Resolution — say, that you’ll be able to swim 10 laps, do a 5 mile bike ride, then run 1 mile.

c) Measurable: For a goal to be a goal, it needs to have a goal line… or at least boundaries.  That is, there needs to be specificity.  If the desired goal is vague or intangible, it’s necessary to break it up into specific tangible Resolutions.  For example, if I want to be “happier” this year, I wouldn’t even know how to evaluate that, so I wouldn’t know how to get there.  Instead, I’d try to set some specific goals toward that end (e.g. resolve to go out with friends at least twice a month, or begin meditating for 5 minutes a day, etc.).  Those objectives are tangible and “measurable", AND they could help move me toward that “happier” place.

b) Actionable: If *you* can’t control it, then *you* can’t achieve it.  For example, you could try to make a Resolution to have your daughter get better grades in school, but that’s a problem, because it’s not really in your power to make it happen.  However, you could make a Resolution to check your daughter's homework every night, and help her study for tests — and that can help her have a better chance of getting those better grades.  See how that works… you take the non-Actionable hope and find a supporting Actionable resolution.  And while your daughter could have her Resolution be to get better grades, she’d still be better off coming up with underlying resolutions more under her control, such as “Have my parents review my homework with me every night!"

a) Relevant: This is the most important, yet most subtle, quality.  It’s the “Why?” and/or motivation for the resolution.  The goal has to feel meaningful to you for it to be something you are willing to work toward.  If your doctor tells you that you have high-blood pressure, and you’re cool with just taking medication, well, then there’s no Resolution for you to make.  But if you want to get off the high-blood pressure meds, you could make a Resolution to exercise 4 times a week and eat more salad — which could get your high-blood pressure down.  Now that is a Resolution to which you’ll be motivated to try to adhere.

Even though I recommend your Resolutions have these 4 RAMA characteristics, it’s important to not deconstruct too much, since otherwise you may end up with your Resolutions being too artificial.  Rather, think of the initial desired Resolution as a block of granite, to be chiseled down with RAMA into one or more Resolutions on which you can take specific actions, toward tangible, achievable (and often repeatable) goals.

GO FORTH, AND RESOLVE

Well, I know you have last minute holiday shopping to do, so I’ll let you go now.  I’ll just leave you with the suggestion that your first Resolution this year be that you'll follow the RAMA guidelines for all your other New Years Resolutions.  

And your second Resolution should be to stop compulsively checking Twitter.  That way you’ll have more time to train for that Ironman.  Or  to write a monthly blog.

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to email me your thoughts.