A Fresh take on New Year's Resolutions for 2019

I may be one of the few people left who continues to use the New Year to inspire a list of things I want more and less of in the year to come. Still, while listing, naming, and publishing New Year's Resolutions may be a thing of years gone by, there is concrete evidence that people still use the turning of the calendar as a cue to change unhealthy and even harmful behaviors. Sometime next week, as you wait for the break-room microwave (strangely the line for the break-room microwave is longer right after the new year), one of your slightly overweight co-workers will eat a vegetable for the first time since last January. Monday morning the treadmills at the gym will be filled with people you do not recognize. And for the first 10 days of 2019, every smoker you know won't know what to do with themselves.

New Year's resolutions fail to generate real life-change because they often focus on the negatives we need to subtract rather than the positives we should add.

As it turns out, quitting things is hard. This is why resolutions often fail and essentially why people no longer seem to formally resolve to use the new year to make positive life changes. Yes, adding healthy disciplines, picking up profitable practices, and introducing new habits can interrupt the natural life-rhythms to which we've become accustomed. However this interruption can be more welcoming than the abrupt extraction of something that has become a natural, yet often harmful, part of our days.

So here are the things I will be adding to my life in 2019:

• Drink 64oz Water: This is an easy one. We all could add some water to our daily intake.

• Ride 1000 Miles: I don't know if that number is impressive to you or not, but it feels like a reasonable goal for me.

• Read 12 Books: Novels, Spiritual, Self-Help, Non-work related. Again, this is probably not impressive to you, but it is an improvement over what I allowed time for in 2018 (and 2011-2017).

• Write 52 Blog Posts: Once a week; Sunday mornings likely. Commentary on media and books, thoughts on being a husband/father, life lessons I've been learning, stories about experiences. Anything that requires me to concentrate time, creative energy, and thought on sharing my stories. (Side note: This blog is more for me to write than for you to read. I hope you enjoy them, but that is not the goal)

• Invest in 4 Relationships: Amelia, Ian, Seth, and especially Danielle. More time and more intention. 2018 was not a year that will be fondly remembered by anyone who lives in this home. 2019 will be different. It will bring healing and more happiness as we care for one another, listen to each other, and look for ways to care for and love one another.

As I resolve to add some positives in the coming year, my hope is that they will crowd out the negatives.

More water; less soda. My ugly and shameful habit of occasionally smoking will be snuffed out while focusing on riding more miles. Reading thoughtful writing and thoughtfully creating content of my own will result in less wasted time and less mindless experiences. And family arguments, heartbreaks, and hurts at home will have no place while investing in the the people and things that are most important.

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• What will you be adding to your life in 2019?

• What do you hope that addition will crowd out?