New Year’s resolutions wheel

Resolutions rarely fail for lack of willpower. They fail because they are phrased as a distant goal (“get fit”, “read more”) with nothing that says what to do on Monday morning. A goal becomes doable the day it turns into a specific action at a specific time.

That is why every resolution on this wheel comes with its first step: a few minutes of action to take within the next seven days. Once that step has been repeated for a few weeks, it becomes a habit you can build on.

How to use it

1. Spin the wheel once. If the resolution really does not speak to you, you get one more spin, no more.
2. Read the first step and put it in your calendar with a day and a time.
3. Phrase it as a “when…, I will…” plan: “when I get home from work, I will walk for ten minutes”.
4. After a month, review it: if the first step has stuck, add the next one; if not, make it smaller.

All the options

Drink more water

First step: put a full water bottle on your desk or table every morning. Refill it at each meal instead of counting glasses.

Walk every day

First step: a ten-minute walk after lunch every day this week, at the same time. Consistency matters more than distance.

Read a book a month

First step: pick your first book today and put it on your bedside table. Ten pages a night is enough to finish most novels within a month.

Go to bed earlier

First step: set an alarm thirty minutes before your target bedtime. When it rings, screens go off and lights go down.

Cut screen time

First step: turn on your phone’s screen-time tracking and note your weekly average before setting a target. In the meantime, switch off notifications for two apps.

Cook at home more

First step: on Sunday, choose three dinners for the week and write the matching shopping list. Start with recipes that take under thirty minutes.

Save every month

First step: set up an automatic transfer to a savings account for the day after payday. A small regular amount beats a big deposit you forget about.

Learn a language

First step: ten minutes a day at a fixed time, starting with the most common words in the language. A little every day beats an hour on Sundays.

Call loved ones

First step: put a weekly call to someone close in your calendar, always on the same day. Rotate who you call if you like.

Declutter weekly

First step: choose the most cluttered drawer in the house and give it fifteen minutes on Saturday. One drawer, not the whole room.

Exercise twice a week

First step: block two thirty-minute slots in your calendar as if they were appointments. Try an activity with no commitment before buying a membership.

Keep a journal

First step: every evening, write three lines: what happened, what you enjoyed, what you learned. Keep the notebook next to your toothbrush.

Volunteer

First step: look up a local charity and offer a half-day trial. Many need occasional help rather than a year-long commitment.

Eat more vegetables

First step: add one vegetable to every lunch for a week without removing anything from the plate. Adding is easier than cutting out.

Learn to say no

First step: when a new request comes in, reply “let me check and get back to you tomorrow” instead of agreeing on the spot. Those twenty-four hours often lead to a better decision.

Frequently asked questions