I’ve written before about how we don’t make resolutions for the New Year. Instead, we make goals to meet over the course of the coming year. The difference is how we approach these two things. Resolutions are new habits that we want to begin such as working out or going for a daily walk.
The trouble with resolutions is the pressure to keep them up every day. If we miss even once, then we feel like we’ve failed at our resolution. Goals, however, give us the opportunity to make incremental changes toward a specific end. We can measure progress along the path to achieving the goal. For example, it’s better to set a goal to lose 10 lbs by Easter than to make a resolution to go running four times a week.
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You might be thinking I’m splitting hairs too finely at this point. But I came across an interesting perspective on this topic. It also softened my stance toward New Year’s resolutions a bit. It involves using new routines to build desirable habits.
Nir Eyal, a graduate from Stanford School of Business and Design School, writes about psychology, technology, and business on his blog Nir and Far. He makes a sharp distinction between routines and habits. A habit is a task you can perform without concentration so your mind is free to think of other things. He gives the example of washing your hands. Kids have to think about each step in the process. Adults can wash their hands while they plan dinner in their head. Therefore, things that require deliberate choice and concentration cannot become habits.
So you can’t really turn a daily walk with the kids or working out into habits. Those tasks require you to make a series of deliberate choices like telling the kids to get their shoes on and prep the house to leave for a little while. You have to plan a block of time for these activities.
Before this post seems too doom and gloom, the good news is that the sort of task that doesn’t lend well to becoming a habit can still become a routine. A routine is a series of actions you regularly perform. Some habits are routines, but not all routines are habits.
My greatest weapon in the war on wasted time is my day planner. I still use paper (gasp!) I love to write down plans and cross off items from by to-do list. It gives me a little instant gratification for my small accomplishments.
This year I’m going with a planner that divides each day into hours. This is the one I got for 2023.
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Here are some more options 🙂
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Trail Connection
What does all this routine vs. habit talk have to do with your family and getting fresh air this year? Implementing change is difficult, but the new year is always a great opportunity. I love how our Trail Family endeavor has enriched our lives, even when we go through slumps and fizzles on our journey. I want you to have a greater chance at success on your trial family journeys as well.
Instead of making unrealistic resolutions like hiking ten miles every week or going for a walk or bike every day, focus on adding a new routine. That might be an afternoon walk a few days a week. It might be going to the park once a week. Just remember that any trail time or outdoor activities you add to your life are not going to become habits. It’s not the sort of thing that you do on autopilot.
Gradually adding new routines also allows for being gracious with yourself. Once you break a resolution it is easy to give up because the whole endeavor feels destroyed. But working to put a routine in place means that missing it occasionally doesn’t mean failure.
New Routines
Here are two easy suggestions to get you started on building new routines in 2023. Walk on the trail as a family once a week. Bring the whole family when you walk the dog. Happy New Year from Trail Family.
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