Ah, it’s that time of year, when everybody’s reevaluating last year and figuring out if and how they can make this year better. I’m not going to pretend I’m immune to that urge to examine and plan, though I’m doing it rather upside down and backwards, as usual, and you, dear reader, get to come along for the ride.

First of all, I didn’t make any formal New Year’s resolutions (I told you I was doing this upside down and backwards). I have some long-running goals that I’m going to work on, but since New Year’s resolutions don’t work well for me and 2025 promises to be another year of upheaval like 2024 was, my main goal is to roll with what’s coming and not panic into any massively bad decisions.

My other half is also doing New Year’s resolutions upside down and backwards, and frankly, his methods are more interesting than mine, so I’m going to share some of them with you.

– Instead of making a resolution for the year, choose a few different aspects of life you’d like to improve, assign each one to a month, and make a dedicated effort toward improving that part of your life during that month. At the end of the month, move on to the next part of your life and don’t worry too much if you can’t keep up both sets of improvements at the same time; the new month’s tasks take priority. My other half has decided that this month’s improvement is dedicated to better sleep, quantity and quality. That means consistent bedtimes and wakeup times, and no screens for two hours before bed.

– If something’s not working, give yourself permission to stop doing that and try something new. If exercising before going to bed winds you up instead of helping you wind down, shift your exercise to a different part of the day. Or if jogging makes your knees hurt, try walking, swimming, or weightlifting. Et cetera.

– In a similar vein, don’t force yourself to do unnecessary boring things any longer than it takes to realize that it’s both boring and unnecessary. And it has to be both; don’t neglect important things, whether you enjoy them or not. But if you go around making yourself do extra work that’s boring the life out of you, you’re more likely to end up with an aversion to that task, which is a problem when a previously optional task suddenly becomes required.

– Journaling is useful for tracking progress. Journal entries don’t have to focus on some huge existential crisis; they can be a simple record of what you did that day and things you want to remember for tomorrow. Or next week. Or next month.

– Know your personality type, and whether you prefer routine or variety. Normal life contains some of both, but everyone has a different tolerance for boredom or chaos. Recognizing where you fit on that scale- and allowing yourself to move based on your life circumstances- can help you decide how to work toward your goals.

My other half is a smart guy, and has a lot of experience getting the best out of himself under stressful conditions. So, some of his methods might work for you, especially if you’re tired of the normal process of making and breaking resolutions.

My only piece of advice on the subject of resolutions (and I shamelessly swiped it from somewhere else; you don’t think I’m imaginative enough to come up with this stuff on my own, do you?) is, if you find yourself making the same resolutions every year and making no progress on them, ask yourself why you haven’t made progress. Then ask why your reason for no progress exists. And ask again, why? Drill down as much as you can, figure out if there’s an underlying problem, and see what you can do to fix that- or if that’s not fixable, at least be aware of it and think about ways to counteract it.

For example, I’ve been writing the time travel WIP for four years, and still haven’t written ‘The End.’ Why not?

Because I’m enjoying the story and characters, and don’t want to leave them behind.

Why not?

Because this story kept me sane and focused during COVID, and gave me a place to dump my emotions. It’s familiar and safe.

Why did I choose that method of dealing with the problems I was facing? What were my other options, and why did I reject those?

(And so on)

This is a deeply personal task and involves a lot of thinking about uncomfortable subjects, so you should do it in small increments, not as one big lump of introspection.

And of course, don’t forget to actually solve the problem, not just ruminate over it. Endless ruminating can be addictive, because it feels like you’re doing something, only, you’re probably not. Which is how so many of us end up with the same New Year’s resolutions year after year.

I hope some of these slightly unorthodox methods work for you, or get you thinking about your own methods for reaching your goals in 2025. If you have any ideas that don’t fit the usual pattern but work well for you, share them below.