They say what gets measured gets managed. And what gets managed gets done. It’s not enough to put a goal, desire or objective out into the world and hope for the best. You can’t rely on the power of attraction. Instead, you’ve got to put in the work and you’ve got to track your progress. And that’s how I’ve come to approach the healthy habits I hope to form this year.
I set a total of seven good habits that I want to establish or solidify in 2021. Some people might call them new year’s resolutions. It’s probably more accurate to say that they are goals, except they’re not about a final product or destination. They’re not about “getting there” so much as they are about defining how I want to go along, so to speak. And so, one month later, let’s check in to see how the journey is going.
Read 25 Books in 2021
This has gone much better than I had anticipated. To date, I’ve completed a total of six books in 2021. That includes two that I actually started back in December, but I finished them in January. That’s A Promised Land by Barack Obama and The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. There’s no way I’m going to keep up with this pace. I’m not reading 72 books in 2021. But this is definitely a promising start.
Verdict: Pass (way ahead!)
Take 8,500 Steps a Day
With the exception of the reading challenge above, everything else on this list is a daily habit. That is, at the end of each day, I can either say I did the thing or I didn’t do the thing. And while it would be ideal if I hit on all these habits each and every day, 100 percent of the time, that’s too much pressure. I’m giving myself some room to breathe, so the goal is to hit each daily habit 250 times over the course of the year. That works out to just over two-thirds of the time.
That’s the same approach I took last year with my daily step goal. The difference is that I increased my daily goal from 8,000 steps to 8,500 steps. In the month of January, I hit this new daily step goal a total of 21 times. That puts me right on pace for a total of just over 250 for the year.
Verdict: Pass (but only barely)
No Screens During Lunch
Something that I’ve really struggled with is being more intentional with my screen time. Part of that means making clear choices about when to avoid screens altogether. While I may have previously scrolled Facebook or played a mobile game on my lunch break, I’ve been trying not to do that this year. Out of the 31 days in January, I avoided screens during lunch for 24 of those days. That’s right around 77 percent, which means I’m on pace for 283 times in 2021.
Verdict: Pass
No Work After Dinner
Call it life-work balance. Or setting boundaries. Truth be told, as you probably know, the so-called “third shift” has been a part of my “normal” existence for a few years now. And it’s always a double-edged sword. I recognize it’s not really sustainable over the long-term, though, so I’ve been trying to cut it out. And so, I was able to avoid working after dinner for 22 out of the 31 days in January. That works out to 71 percent of the time, putting me on pace for 259 by the end of this year.
Verdict: Pass
Ten Minutes of Daily Stillness
Between my professional responsibilities and parental obligations, not to mention everything else that just needs to be done, it can be hard to find time for myself. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “meditation,” but I am striving to take some time to breathe. And to get more comfortable in the stillness, with my own thoughts. Surprisingly, I managed to squeeze in ten minutes of stillness on 27 days in January. That’s 87 percent, on pace for 318 times in 2021.
Verdict: Pass (very good!)
Under Three Hours of Screen Time
Of the 2021 habits, this one has been the toughest so far. As mentioned above, I’ve been trying to be more intentional with my (mobile) screen time. Between social media, YouTube videos, email, games and everything else, it’s almost like a nervous tic as I reach for my phone just because and not with any real purpose in mind. Setting a 30-minute time limit on Dr. Mario World has helped, but not always enough.
During the month of January, I kept my daily screen time under three hours for 19 days. That’s 61 percent, putting me behind pace. If I keep going as I’ve been going, it’ll be 224 times by year’s end. On most of the days when I went over, I didn’t go over by a lot, but still. I don’t feel like I’m setting a good example for my kids. We could all use more analog, screen-free time.
Verdict: Failing
Keep a Water Bottle on Hand
Of the good habits I’m trying to establish in 2021, this one is probably the least quantitative in its definition. I just want to stay hydrated, which is so important for so many reasons. Coffee counts. Based on some highly unscientific self-evaluation, I think I drank enough fluids on 28 days last month. That’s way ahead of pace. Keep it up and I’ll achieve this daily goal 330 times this year.
Verdict: Pass (good!)
New Year’s Resolutions, Goals, Habits…
So, the good news is, broadly speaking, I’m off to a good start with these 2021 habits. I’m generally on pace, with the noted exception of limiting my daily (mobile) screen time to under three hours. This is all definitely a work in progress, but using an app to track my daily habits has been useful in keeping me accountable to myself. If it were not for the quantitative data staring me in the face, the constant daily reminders of the habits I want to form, I probably would have let a lot more slide.
Now that we’re more than a month into 2021, how are you holding up with your resolutions, goals and habits?
Congratulations on these achievements!
Ah, yes, I’ve got to keep a water bottle on hand more. Thanks for the reminder! Good luck reading 25 books. Just make sure you choose short ones and you’ll do it easily!
There’s a reason I didn’t specify the length of the books. All jokes aside, based on previous years, most of the books I read average in the 200 to 300 page range, or about 6 hours as an audiobook. So far this year, the shortest I’ve read was Vi by Kim Thuy (144 pages, just under 3 hours as an audiobook). The longest was A Promised Land by Barack Obama at 768 pages (almost 30 hours as an audiobook).