New Years Resolutions - An Engineering Approach 144
Hugh Pickens writes "Four out of five people who make New Year's resolutions will eventually break them and a third won't even make it to the end of January says the NY Times. But experts say the real problem is that people make the wrong resolutions. The typical resolution often reflects a general desire. To engineer better behavior, it is more productive to focus on a specific goal. '"Many clients make broad resolutions, but I advise them to focus the goals so that they are not overwhelmed," says Lisa R. Young. "Small and tangible one-day-at-a-time goals work best."' Here are some resolutions that experts say can work: To lose weight, resolve to split an entree with your dining partner when dining out. To improve your fitness, wear a pedometer and monitor your daily activity. To improve family life, resolve to play with your kids at least one extra day a week. To improve your marriage, find a new activity you and your spouse both enjoy such as taking a pottery class. On a lighter note: What was Steve Jobs' New Year's Resolution?"
the solution to this age old problem (Score:3, Funny)
Those who have access to a time machine of course do not need this and can go about it the oldfashioned way.
Re: (Score:1)
Steve Job's New Years resolution (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Steve Job's New Years resolution (Score:4, Funny)
"What are we resolving to do this year, Brin?"
"Same thing we always do, Larry
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
They're Pinkie and the Brin.
Pinkie and the Brin.
One is a genius,
the other's in sin
To prove their company's worth
they'll overthrow the Earth
They're Pinkie
Pinkie and the
Brin Brin Brin Brin
Brin Brin Brin Brin
Just one word... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Speaking of that, do you realize that Pinky and the Brain succeeded in every episode? Their stated goal was to try, not to actually complete the task!
Steve Jobs' New Year's Resolution (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
-Lars
Re: (Score:2)
Does make it hard to keep trim though, if you eat out much.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Note for non-Americans: In the US, "entree" means main course, rather than a starter.
Yes, I know - it doesn't make any sense (french for "entry"), but thats the way it is.
The entrance: now an exit (Score:2)
True. Supposedly this dates from a time when many-course meals were the norm in wealthy circles; the "entree" was the first of several main courses, so it was the "entrance" to the main part of the meal.
As time went on, the other main dishes were dropped, so that nowadays, unless you have dessert, the "entrance" is generally the last thing you eat.
Re:Steve Jobs' New Year's Resolution (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Steve Jobs' New Year's Resolution (Score:5, Funny)
People probably won't pay much attention until you start spelling "loose" properly.
Re: (Score:2)
Oh well.
Rich
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Obligatory Engineering Pun (Score:5, Funny)
I swear, no more fiddling around with 4:3 aspect ratios of the past. The CRT hits the junk pile in 2004, replaced by LCD, so help me.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The only thing it's good for is watching movies.
That and for function calls with lots of arguments. I know I can split them over multiple lines, but I just don't like that.
Re: (Score:2)
If your function has that many arguments, you're already doing something wrong. Either the function is trying to do too many different things, or at least some of the arguments should be consolidated into structures.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
public static void OnBeforeNavigate2(object pDisp, ref object URL, ref object Flags, ref object TargetFrameName, ref object PostData, ref object Headers, ref bool Cancel)
Sometimes you don't get to control how many arguements your functions take.
True (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:True (Score:4, Insightful)
I thought engineering was partly about breaking a problem down into smaller problems.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
There aren't many disciplines where the lessons learned can't be applied to other disciplines.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Granted, that is the o
Obviously not written with Slashdot in mind (Score:3, Funny)
No. slashdot is not going to give up on this by the end of January. They are gonna give up by the end of next week.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
s/days/years (Score:2)
you meant 40 years.
Rubbish ... just water down your expectations (Score:2, Funny)
Talk to to a woman (Score:1)
Re:Talk to to a woman (Score:5, Funny)
Speak for yourself - I call my mom every week!
Oh, you meant a ... woman woman ... sorry.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Never understood new years resolutions (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems like personal growth should be a cycle of small, incremental improvements made throughout your life.
Re: (Score:1)
To me, and this is probably the engineer in me speaking, the arbitrary designation of the end of the year as a time to make life adjustments is very odd. If there is a problem in your life or something that needs changing, it seems like you should work to correct that whenever you discover it. The big push for resolutions around new years seems counterproductive in that many people may wait to make changes until "the new year".
Exactly!
The engineer in me also has a hard time with making wish lists for Ch
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
To me, and this is probably the engineer in me speaking, the arbitrary designation of the end of the year as a time to make life adjustments is very odd. If there is a problem in your life or something that needs changing, it seems like you should work to correct that whenever you discover it. The big push for resolutions around new years seems counterproductive in that many people may wait to make changes until "the new year".
Well, it's not entirely arbitrary or useless. The holiday season provides more free time to think about the things one needs to do. Setting an end-of-holiday start date also takes some of the guilt out of holiday gluttony. Since our culture represents a change of year as significant, even if nothing much actually changes, it's easy to align planned change of oneself with it (why not file away a bad habit or two with the records of paid invoices for 2007?). It's also easy to track how long you've been s
Re: (Score:2)
That's certainly sensible, but that doesn't mean that you need to throw out the baby with the bath water. Many people find it useful to schedule periods of reflection and re-evaluation periodically: that concept is a
Re: (Score:2)
I agree, as I do this myself. But I think that for lots of people that time is "The end of the year" and that is not really often enough.
Other people have posted that the holidays are a time of contemplation. But is that really true? I find basically the whole month of December to be a terrible time for contemplation, because everyone (including yourself) is so busy with various activities and spending time with f
Does anyone really make these? (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't think I've even bothered to make one for the past 15-20 years.
So "scientific approach" to keeping them aside - Do people actually make resolutions they ever intend to keep, or do these just amount to 30 seconds of introspection to observe a flaw about yourself, only to forget it a few minutes later? Do you actually say to yourself, "This year, I will get that promotion", and mean it in any way more concrete than mere wishful thinking?
I made one years ago. (Score:1)
myminicity (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
Cut the serving in half? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Small, One Day At a Time Goals (Score:5, Interesting)
You mean like: "Just try not to drink today"?
My new year's resolution is not to make one (Score:1)
now.. did i just break that resolution pre-emptively? or did I uphold it?
I feel a disturbance in the slashdot.. as if a million heads swelled in pain, and were suddenly silenced!
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:My new year's resolution is not to make one (Score:4, Funny)
I say screw it! (Score:3, Funny)
That way not only does no one mind when I break my resolution, I'm encouraged to do so!
Author should read some XteveXalina (Score:2)
Please don't let slashdot to become another "Cosmopolitan" or "Men's health".
We value scientific and system approach here, not some ligh
/. won't ever be Cosmo or Men's Health (Score:2)
My resolution from 2001 (Score:3, Insightful)
Still holding it.
Re: (Score:2)
Probably Good Advice ... (Score:2)
I was, for a few years, a volunteer training coach for a couple of the US AIDS Rides (Boston->New York by bicycle, for example). Everyone has heard people make grand resolutions about getting into, or back into, shape; these resolutions often don't amount to much. We asked people to make an initial commitment to a training program of about 6 weeks, and that worked out pret
Boo! (Score:2)
To improve your marriage, find a new activity you and your spouse both enjoy such as taking a pottery class
Gee, now where on earth did that spooky tip come from *cough*Ghost*cough*
Yeesh...where do they dig up these 'experts'?
Drinking responsibly (Score:1)
This works - (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Let me guess, you don't get mod points here very often.
Who made this resolution? (Score:3, Insightful)
Instead how about...
..Watching one WWE wrestling event together per week.
..Being able to veto watching "When Harry Met Sally".
..Not having to have a 'deep meaningful discussion about your feelings' during the superbowl.
Go ahead mod me "-1 Troll, Sexist Pig".
Re: (Score:1)
WWE backwards is Eww! (Score:2)
I thought WWE fans couldn't marry in most states.
(rimshot)
Thank you! I'll be here all week!
But... seriously. WWE? Never understood how that was supposed to be a manly thing to watch. It's a bunch of almost naked steroid mutants groping one another. Some of them wear rhinestones and shiny little shorts.
How about a one of those chopper/muscle car building shows or "rebuilding your home atom by atom from the ground up" shows? Something with hammers and saws
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why does everyone make depressing resolutions? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well of course no one keeps those. Who wants to do that crap?
Why not resolve to do something you'll enjoy.
Resolve to have more and better sex than last year.
Resolve to earn more for less work than last year.
Resolve to find something new that makes you laugh.
Resolve to cross more things off your "Before I Die..." list.
Resolve to spend less time around people you don't like.
And it just might turn out that you're spending time enjoying your life that a lot of the other things take care of themselves.
Re: (Score:1, Funny)
I bet you've never heard that in your life.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, but the "spouse" constant there sort of torpedoes the whole equation. Make it a variable and you're on to something.
I'm not married, BTW. Just basing this on my observations of married friends.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
If you make dying the priority you can cross the rest off at once (nothing personal, just pointing out the efficient route).
I'm telling you, realistic sexbots = world peace (Score:5, Funny)
That gets expensive. Does't matter if it's a S.O. or prostitutes, either.
--- Resolve to earn more for less work than last year.
Not sure I can optimize that one any further without my bosses catching on.
--- Resolve to find something new that makes you laugh.
I just turn on the news every evening. There's new hilarity every day. And it's an election year!
Helps to be a misanthrope, I guess.
--- Resolve to cross more things off your "Before I Die..." list.
But I can't get Jennifer Connelly to return my calls, much less agree to what's on my list.
--- Resolve to spend less time around people you don't like.
Well now I'd have to leave the planet. I'm a skeptic, but I do follow major UFO sightings with interest. No real luck yet.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
How to make New Year's Resolutions (Score:4, Insightful)
We now know a great deal about how the mind works and have applied it to the general subject of "becoming a success". Being successful always involves explicitly setting goals, and this can be done with New Years' resolutions SO LONG AS they are done correctly.
I'm boiling the issues down to a few simple facts, but they are all verified by psychological studies and have their basis in well-known underlying mechanisms. It all comes from your Reticular Activating System, which is a part of your brain that is involved with setting goals (I'm simplifying).
1) Don't make resolutions, set goals. Pick the major areas of your life (personal, work, relationship, church, community) and write down things that you'd like to achieve in the upcoming year.
2) Resolutions need to be written down. No one has explained why writing is needed, but it works. Lots of studies have shown this. (Maybe it's because wirting things activates all areas of your mind at once: you "say" it in your mind while writing it, you see it, you write it, &c).
3) Resolutions must be personal. Use "I" when writing them (as in "I read 15 books by year's end").
4) Resolutions must be positive. If you say "I stop smoking" or "I stop chewing my nails", it won't work. The RAS only deals with positive commands, and not negative ones. To deal with biting your nails, write "I notice every time I bring my fingers to my mouth" or something, and then stop yourself at those times.
5) Resolutions must be in present tense. Write "I earn $80K a year", not "I earn $80K by the end of the year".
6) Where possible, resolutions should be measurable. If you want to lose weight, say "I weigh 175 pounds".
7) Resolutions should be reasonable. Don't say "I earn a million dollars a year", take your salary, add 20% and write "I earn XXX a year".
The more specific and detailed you are, the greater likelyhood that the goal will happen. Want a new car? Write down the make, model, color, options, and everything else you can think of.
Once you have your goals written out, occasionally look at them. Once a week or more will really drive the message home to your subconscious.
People who do this are generally amazed at the results. It's making use of existing well-known mechanisms in your mind, but we've only recently discovered how to make use of them.
And this is why it works... (Score:4, Informative)
The Reticular Activating System (RAS) decides what is "important" to your conscious mind.
As you read this, you can feel the weight of the chair on your legs, feel the clothes on your shoulders, see the wall beyond the monitor, and hear the backgound noise. You can feel your breathing, and if you concentrate you can maybe hear your heart beat.
None of this information makes it to your consious mind because the RAS steps in and says "this isn't important to me". You don't notice the feel of your pants clinging to your leg, but if a bug started crawling up your leg the RAS would go nuts bringing it to the attention of your mind.
The interesting thing about the RAS is that we can tell it what is important. Once we decide on a goal, anything that reasonates with that goal will be allowed through to our conscious minds.
Day by day we are awash in possibilities that we pay no attention to. Once we set a goal and let the RAS know what's important, these possibilities start to come through to the conscious mind and we find that by exploring more and more possibilities, eventually we get to our goal.
People who set and write down goals comment on how "magical" this all appears. Almost as if there is some force in the universe that is coming to their aid. Suddenly, someone mentions that their son is selling his car and it happens to be the exact make, model, and price you were hoping for.
Of course, the possibilities were there *before* you set your goals as well - you just didn't notice them. Some people have suggested that this is how prayer works.
Whatever the underlying reasons, writing down goals seems to work. It's how people people get to be extremely successful in whatever area they choose.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
My New Year's resolution: learn how to sit on a chair properly.
A Resolution I Shall Keep (Score:2)
GTD (Score:3, Insightful)
My New Year's Resolution (Score:2, Interesting)
I made a resolution to learn some new languages. I happened to make Lisp my first choice, and I'm surprised by how smoothly it's going.
There's a really basic tool I've written in a number of languages before as a first project type exercise. It parses a series of command line options and interprets them in a getopts fashion. In Java, I split the problem into three classes, each consisting of about 100 lines of code on average. It wasn't particularly flexible, and specifying and interpreting the options wa
Resolutions, or wishes? (Score:1, Insightful)
The thing is, people don't make "resolutions" - they mak
Resolving to confirm a need for improved fitness. (Score:2, Funny)
Screw the calendar (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, maybe next year.... (Score:2)
12:05AM. "Hey dude, you want some of this German Chocolate Cake?"
12:06AM. "Damn, maybe next year. This is some fuckin good cake, man."
What I my kid to do this year (Score:3, Funny)
2) Move out of my damn basement.
3) Get a date.
On The Other Hand... (Score:2, Interesting)
Easy one (Score:2)
do nerds observe holidays? (Score:2)
If an alien came to my planet and asked me why the fellow members of my species observe holidays and attach significance to numbers in a calendar system, I would truthfully reply "I have no idea, bro".
uh? (Score:2)
How about not going out to eat at places that serve crap food in oversized portions in the first place? Or just ordering a salad with dressing on the side?
The same thing I resolve to do every year (Score:2)
So far I'm 3/3 on it (boar, elk, alligator).
Re: (Score:2)
Zelda porn...?