One month in

New Year's resolutions, accountability and taking a chance on me

Today is the last day of January. Did you make any New Years resolutions this year?

If so, how’s it going so far?

Context

One doesn’t have to search very far to quickly see the consensus is most New Year’s resolutions fail — and often pretty quickly. Consider:

• Time finds “by some estimates, as many as 80% of people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions by February. Only 8% of people stick with them the entire year.”

• Psychology Today cites research that “found that only 19 percent of individuals keep their resolutions. Most are abandoned by mid-January.”

• The University of Stirling’s student newspaper notes, “On average, only 9 to 12 per cent of people successfully stick to their New Year’s resolutions.”

• Inc. observes that only 9% of people are successful in keeping their New Year’s resolutions and “Research can even predict which day you will quit your New Year's goals. Strava documented over 800 million user-logged activities in 2019 and found that most people toss in the towel on January 19, which Strava succinctly dubs ‘Quitter's Day.’”

Did you make it to January 19th? If so, congratulations. You are above average. :)

Check in

We made it one month. How have we done so far?

We published our first issue on Monday, January 2. Including this issue:

• Posts: 15

  • Top post: Light

• New subscribers: 10

  • Subscribers in two countries

• Posts with comments: 9

  • Most comments on an individual post: 10 on Public or private?

One of my secret goals was to try and write daily for the first month — or at least the first 21 days. I came up a bit short of that, averaging every other day or 15/22 of the weekdays this month. Still, I’m happy with that.

I’m still very much finding my cadence and rhythm and focus and appreciate the mix of patience, encouragement and grace you have provided me this month.

As we move into February, I am planning to try a weekly cadence to ensure this effort remains sustainable. I haven’t decided which day I will publish yet but please rest assured: I will keep writing! :)

Thank you to each of you who have chosen to join me on this journey. It’s been a meaningful adventure already and I’m excited as we continue forward.

If you’ve come to enjoy this blog, please consider sharing it with a friend.

And, if you have any topics or themes you’d like to me to consider for future issues, please let me know. You can comment below or reply to send me an email.

Over time, as I find my footing, this blog will be less about me and more about you.

Thank you, again, for — with apologies to ABBA — taking a chance on me.

Who doesn’t love a little ABBA? ;) Go on, listen. I won’t tell anyone. I’m listening to it right now as I prepare to sign off. And I won’t lie: I’m smiling. 😊

Until next time,

-bp