It’s never too early to start thinking about what you want to change next year. You just need to lean in and commit. Don’t be like those people who begin with a bang—new workout plans or diets—and give up by mid-February.
“Easy for YOU to say, Cubert!” Fair enough. I’ve had plenty of resolutions that fizzled out like last night’s half-empty can of Stroh’s. But there’s a better way to make resolutions stick.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The idea is simple: make your goals measurable and take small steps. Chip away at them instead of using an all-or-nothing approach.
Take weight loss: if your goal is to lose 50 pounds, start by aiming for five pounds in the first two months. Build new habits and routines. If you keep losing five pounds every two months after that, you’ll still lose 30 pounds—still a win. (Go ahead and add that “Y” to SMART for me.)
I’ve got a few money-focused resolutions you might try. Nothing heavy or cliché—just small changes to make life easier and more enjoyable. Drum roll…
All that adds up to $1,822 saved per year. Even better are the perks to my health and the environment, plus more for the “lifetime experience” fund to see quality plays and live acts. Score.
I now wake up at 5 AM every day. I never thought that would happen at the start of the year—I was more into the idea of sleeping late and aiming for an early retirement. But somehow I’m up with the birds and actually happy about it.
If you write blog posts like I do, you’ll understand. The 5 AM habit added a whole new, productive part to my day. It used to be work, then home, then bed. Now it’s blog, then work, then home (or sometimes gym), then bed. I think I found the secret to a happier routine.
Why not sandwich the least fun part of your day between things you enjoy? Put the dreaded cubicle hours between your morning side project and something you like in the evening, then unwind when you get home.
If you don’t blog—or you don’t read every post I write—you could use that early time for a daily workout. That’s what Mrs. Cubert does. And I still don’t think she’s read my last post yet.
I feel pretty good about my plans for 2018. They’re realistic and doable. Will I hit them all perfectly? Probably not, but I’ll come close. And yes, I’ll be hunting for coupons so we can catch some shows at the Guthrie next year.
We might even try live jazz at the Dakota. I just need to convince Mrs. Cubert that jazz isn’t only for older folks.
Abandoned Cubicle will keep being a focus. I don’t call it a “labor of love”—it doesn’t feel like labor to write these posts, which matters after the frustrating downtime the site had recently.
We’ll write these goals down here so we can check back through 2018. Maybe you’ll tease me for not biking enough or for choosing stand-up comedy as our live event pick. I’ll tease you back—kindly, like a coach heading for early retirement. We’re here to encourage, not shame.
About those site problems: I went from a corrupted cache issue that required a rebuild to finally moving hosts. I’m now on SiteGround and things are looking good. Light a candle for me. Thanks for sticking with me these past few weeks. We’ll be faster and more reliable going forward.