Irresolution

In keeping with the season of resolutions here's another article on how to keep moving forward toward one's goals. The (familiar) tips that this reader gleaned from the WSJ column are:

1) Make a plan that consists of incremental steps toward the major goal.

2) Envision success and failure (e.g., how good you will look if you lost weight or how poorly if you gained weight instead).

3) Accountability to others helps discipline.

4) Give yourself a reward for success.

I've resolved (is that a meta-resolution?) to try some of these next year.

One of the commenters to the article wrote:

To follow through consistently, we have [to] acknowledge that willpower is apt to fail us, and we need to learn how to cleverly design and put ourselves into situations that "force" us to actually do whatever we intelligently decide we should do.

That is good advice. Signing up for music instruction forced me to practice before each lesson. Upping my 401(k) withholding percentage forced me to save for retirement. Happiness is achieved not by being free but by wisely choosing the shackles to which we are bound.