"At every moment, when you are trying to improve yourself, there is a war taking place in your brain." ― Neil Strauss @neilstrauss

Making New Year's resolutions is hard, the minute you start thinking, your left brain is already wrestling your sense of reverie to the ground:

Tell me! What possible relationship exists between a prime number and will power?

But after a few years of being a mere observer, you realize that very few of those resolutions actually stick around for the long run.

Which then takes you to this conclusion:

Screw that! I’m gonna start my very own New Year's Eve resolution!

Which 3 seconds later turns into this:

“OK, how about the 2nd of January resolution?"

The 3 seconds window here is just how long it takes you to remember that generally on New Years Eve, there is usually a huge party with lots and lots of booze.

So you start wondering.

If you wanna turn a new chapter in your life, if you wanna start -what do they call it? Oh, yeah the first day of the rest of your life, if you want to start something that important…

Then you might wanna consider waking up bright and chipper, rather than spending the first day of the rest of your life curled up in the sofa cursing whoever invented those bloody damn hangovers.

It makes sense, doesn’t it?

“This is the first day of the rest of my life, and I’m all out of aspirin.” That is NOT a good a bumper sticker!

You see, opening days are important, whether it’s the launch of your new app, the opening of your new restaurant, the premiere or your first movie… You must be at your absolute best during that day, no matter what.

And to do that:

You have to set yourself up for success beforehand.

In just six days a page in calendar will turn, and with it millions upon millions of resolutions will be made, the majority of those will probably border the realms of the abstract: This is the year I’m gonna get healthy, this is the year I’m gonna turn my life around, this is finally the year I’m gonna chase my dreams.

By January 15th 99% of those resolutions will meet an abrupt end (says Tony Robbins) but if I had to guess, I’d say that half of those resolutions probably died on that damn sofa on January 1st.

Now, I’m not here to tell you how to stick to your New Years resolutions, how can I? In fact I don’t have a clue.

I’m here to embarrass myself trying new ways to stick my own resolution. Everyone makes NYE resolutions, I know, but it seems kinda boring, I wanna try something new. I stumbled upon a new technique and I’m gonna go Guinea Pig on this one:

Have an Accountability System

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard this before but I didn’t listen. I never listened. Yet the principal was very simple:

You have got to get a group of people that you are accountable to so that you stick to your plans easier.

I remember hearing Tim Ferriss recounting the story of a friend of his that had set an accountability system where in case he didn’t follow through, he then had the obligation to donate to the Nazi party.

Obviously, he followed through. (On his goal, not donating to the Nazis)

You Need Tools to Win the Inner Battle

Sometimes, everything inside us fights change. It’s almost like if there was some lazy co-pilot hanging around inside our brain and who just wants to remain comfortable in the same situation, no matter how counter-productive it is to do so, and no matter how amazing the change would be. It's like he has one word in the dictionary: Stagnation.

By the way, that co-pilot might be lazy, but he’s very good at one thing, manipulating your fear and pleasure instincts. The problem however is that those instincts hold the keys to your own success in life, so you must get learn to control them, before he controls them for you.

Bottom line, if you want bypass that gatekeeping son of a bitch, you must drive your own instincts yourself.

Game on, douchebag!

The crazy part however, is that co-pilot is you.

“Let’s admit it, we all got two wolves in us, a good one and a bad one, you know what I’m talking about — and they BOTH wanna eat… We just gotta feed that good wolf a little more than the other one.” — Matthew McConaughey

The Scary Side of Accountability

Personally, I won’t set an accountability system to donate to the Nazi party because I know I won’t forgive myself if I did.

What I’m doing instead, is publishing my plans to get some sort of accountability if I dare to have second thoughts. This way the fear of failing you guys and risking being swallowed by shame is far higher than any pleasure that conformity and comfort may try to tempt me with.

When you have another incentive, that douchebag can sit on your shoulder and whisper all daylong about what if this and what if that, he could whisper all he wants how delaying is in your best interest, how ‘later’ is the best word in the universe... None of that would matter anymore.

Because having an accountability system set in place will be a huge way to counter-attack that inner resistance.

At least that's why I hope.

Would it work? I don’t know.

The beauty lies in trying new things, new systems, you can fail miserably, learn from it, laugh about it and move on… Or if it works, it can change your life for the better.

No matter the outcome, setting an accountability system seems like a far more efficient tool than a simple New Year’s resolution, at least that’s how I see it.

The truth is, this is uncharted territory for me too, so I’ll try it, experiment it, document it, and hopefully it could be of use to some of you.

What is the goal or objective I’m seeking accountability for? That’s going to be our subject for tomorrow and I’m looking forward to your insights. Although if you’re curious, I left a spoiler at the very end of this post.

Meanwhile I wish you all Happy Holidays and all the best for next year.

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