Have you ever made a commitment to start doing something new?
Work out
Eat healthily
Write more
Jog after work
Drink more water
Read a book a month
Save more money
Quit smoking
Quit drinking
Quit dating
Start dating
Quit Tinder
Start Tinder
It’s around this time of year that the cold wind inevitably reaches out and slaps us hard in the face and says, “Hey Seth, it’s time to reassess your life. Let’s cut some things out and add some things in!”
It’s like peer pressure in high school – “Come on, Seth! Everyone’s doing it!”
“Okay! Let’s do it!”
So we set the goals.
We write them down.
Hell, we might even put them on a notecard then post it on our wall to look at each morning. #Protip
Then March comes around and it hits you like a 5 foot high, 55 degrees cold, Pacific Ocean wave to the face…
“Oh cra[.”
I completely forgot I wanted to read a book every week.
Oh no, how long has it been?!
Let’s see, the last book I read was…
No!
Surely that can’t be right!
Oh God, I think it is right…
January 7th.
Seth.
No.
You read one book.
Your New Years Resolution lasted one week?
…
What happens next?
Well, I’m glad you asked.
Ashamed of the failure and looking for a way to get back at ourselves, we say, “Screw it!”
This year is a wash!
New Years Resolutions are stupid!
Instead of reading a book every week, since I’m too lazy and stupid to do that, I’m gonna give away all my books and vow to never read again.
Yeah!
That’ll teach me.
And while I’m at it, I’m gonna add Dr. Pepper back into my diet.
Yes!
Self-sabotage.
That’s what I deserve.
How dumb was I to think I could read a book every week this year.
Stupid Seth.
It’s funny how easy it is to forget something when it’s not constantly being put in front of our faces day in and day out.
Ever wonder what would happen if advertising was banned?
No more commercials, ads, billboards, radio plugs?
Telling us what to buy, eat, drink, do, watch, read, think, see?
DANCE MONKEY! DANCE!!!
While I (Obviously) have a distaste for business’s misuse of advertising and our equal role in indulging it’s efforts, I believe there is a silver lining here.
Every day that we commute into work, we see ads for food, beds, watches, jewelry, cars, and vacations.
And thank God we do! How else would we know what we are suppose to be doing with our time and money?
I mean, how scary would it be to imagine a world where we aren’t constantly being told that what we have isn’t enough?
Well, the world would come to an end. Obviously, Seth.
My point here is, while we can’t ban the advertising industry, we can use its power to our advantage.
You want to knock out a tough new year’s resolution?
Make it a billboard in your life.
Write it loud and proud and put it on your bedside stand.
Put it on your bathroom mirror.
Put it on your refrigerator.
You know the expression “Out of sight, out of mind”?
Well, it’s real. So don’t fall prey to it.
If you’re resolution is to write a novel this year, print out copies of the cover of your favorite novel and put it on the wall in your bedroom,
In your kitchen,
In your bathroom
In your car
In your office.
My business partner often says “Proximity is power” and while he doesn’t always use it properly in context, he often times nails it on the head.
Okay Seth, you’re throwing around a lot of ‘You, you, you’ here. You think you can chill out on singling us out?
Yes, my bad.
Let me reiterate though, when I say “You”, I am really saying “Me”.
Because every post I’ve ever written comes from my own struggles.
For example!
Who do you think the idiot in the story here who set a new years resolution and failed in the first week is?
Yep, me.
You see, I made a commitment to consistently write this year.
And I was sitting in a movie last night (The Upside), and you remember that freezing cold Pacific Ocean wave that hit that idiot in the face eariler in this post?
Yep, that was me also.
BOOM!
Hit me in the face like a ton of bricks.
Oh, God.
Seth, when was the last time you wrote something?
“Oh crap.”
I completely forgot I wanted to write something every week.
Oh no, how long has it been?!
Let’s see, the last thing I wrote was…
No!
Surely that can’t be right!
Oh God, I think it is right…
January 6th.
Seth.
No.
You wrote one post.
Your New Years Resolution lasted one week?
It occurred to me last night that I had not set myself up for success.
This one is on me.
Not my current life circumstances.
Not my current workload.
Not my friends or family.
Me.
I am trying to be a professional basketball player yet I have been spending every day drinking myself to sleep in a bar playing billiards with the townies.
If proximity is power, then distance is weakness.
Do you want to be a professional basketball player?
You better have posters of Jordan all over your bedroom.
You better have Pop-A-Shot in your garage.
You better be subscribed to every basketball fundamentals youtube channel that exists.
You better be hanging out at your local YMCA shooting 1,000 free throws a day.
You better be modeling other professional basketball players.
If you’re currently thinking, “Oh you also better be born 6’8″ and be able to run a 5-minute mile.”, then go ahead and hit the red x on your browser because this site isn’t for you.
I can’t help you because you’re already a professional!
A professional excuse-ist!
Congrats! That’s awesome!
The Takeaway
You want to be successful in your resolutions?
Put up billboards in your life to point you toward success.
Do a little bit every day (5 minutes is enough)
Proximity is power – surround yourself with the models of success.
Whether they are real people in your life or posters on your wall.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, nor will your resolution be accomplished in a day.
Build systems to lead you to success.
Stop reading articles on achieving resolutions and go start now.