Have you heard the headline before?

I bet not.

While we have all heard and set New Year Resolutions, this one might seem new.

But I am sure you are getting some ideas to where this is leading to.

Hint: This might indeed be the solution to the biggest problem with New Year Resolutions.

As we all know (and Forbes research confirms this), most (80%) of the New Year resolutions are abandoned by February of that year. In fact, the business model of gymnasiums thrives on this one important insight. Most new members who sign up don’t show up. This has an impact on the pricing at gyms too because the ones who set New Year Resolutions subsidize those who set what I call New Day Resolutions.

The Ones who set New Day Resolutions show up every day whereas the ones who set New Year ones show up a few weeks.

There’s a reason 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail. The problem isn’t the goals or the resolutions itself, it’s the way we go about trying to tackle them. We try to go big and burn out, forgetting that “slow and steady wins the race”.

Thus, while I do believe in the Power of Goals, I don’t believe in New Year Resolutions. We don’t need them to achieve our goals. We need what I call as New Day Resolutions and the magic of micro-actions that go with them. Together they are our New Day Micro Actions.

Every day is a new day.

And if we take care of every day’s micro actions, needless to say our New Year Resolutions will be taken care of without ever setting any.

At the same time, I understand that the start of a New Year can act as a powerful nudge to begin something new or to stop something old.

Setting goals is great. Even the Big Hairy Audacious Ones. Whatever be your goal setting methodology (there are many such as BHAG, SMART, WOOP, OKR, Value Based and others), the most important thing to remember here is to focus less on the outcome, goals and resolutions and focus more on the process.

When tackling big, audacious goals, you don’t need big, audacious actions. All you need is the contagious magic of micro-actions.

Let me give you an example but first a question.

Which option is easier to commit to?

1. I want to lose 25 Kilograms in 5 months.

2. I will walk 7 Kilometres every day. I will also sleep for 8 hours, and I will eat mindfully every day.

3. I will just wear my gym clothes and shoes in the morning. To make it easy, I will keep them next to my bed so I can see them when I wake up every morning.

Do you see the point I am making here? You will shortly.

When I travel, I often don’t feel like exercising, even though I know I’ll feel way better if I do. So, in the morning, I don’t commit to a program to lose 25 kilograms (or any such number) or promise myself to walk for 7 Kilometres. I just put on my walking gear.

That’s it.

And then, since my clothes are on, I almost always decide to just go for a walk on the street and take a look. I used to go to a park earlier but sometimes this became a place to hide. I used to make excuses such as – it’s too far or there is an important early morning meeting. But now I don’t give myself a chance to make these excuses. I step out for some fresh air.

What happens next is what almost always happens when I get on the street: I see people walking and think, “I bet it will feel good to do this for a few minutes.” So, I do it even when I don’t feel like doing it.

Many times, I find myself walking to the gymnasium. And other exercises naturally follow that. But most importantly, I walk for 90 minutes or so.

After I exercise, I think, “Man, it would feel great to stretch,” so I do that, too. And then, since I’m on a roll, I decide to eat a healthy breakfast instead of garbage. Later at work, I’m extra productive since my body feels great.

The magic here is in breaking down big, hard, sometimes even scary goals into attainable pieces. Find something small and attainable you can do, start there, and let the contagious magic of micro-actions do the rest.