Planning For 2018, Because New Year's Resolutions Don't Mean Diddly Squat

Many readers will have had this experience: a new year arrives, they make some resolutions, and then only keep a few of them, at best. There have been more than enough studies into the reasons why people fail or succeed at keeping their resolutions, and I'm not going to go into detail here. The point is that people resolve that they're going to this or that in the new year, but the fact is that there's no guarantee that anyone is going to be able to get done what they claim they will do, largely because there are no guarantees in life. Rather than put up arbitrary declarations that "I resolve to do X, Y, Z, etc.", my philosophy and preference is to take an approach that I believe is more realistic and wish to discuss today.

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My Approach -- Looking at, and Analyzing Wants

It is important to distinguish between needs and wants. The definitions from economics work best for this discussion: needs are things that are absolutely necessary for one to survive and get around from day-to-day. Wants are not necessary for survival, but if one can get what they want, they should be better off and happier for it. For example, one needs money and food but they may not need to learn a new language; however that person might want to learn a new language.

I see too often that people want X or want to do Y, but they never think about it in detail and end up declaring it as a resolution, and subsequently get nowhere with said resolution. There are several things that need to go along with any want: reasons/motivation for the want (Why?), how this want might be fulfilled, factors favoring the chances of fulfilling that want, and factors negatively impacting the chances of fulfilling that want. I believe that to have a realistic chance of getting [done] something that one wants [done], that person needs to analyze all of those factors. So rather than have a simple list of "resolutions" with no details, the better approach is a list of wants with proper analysis.

How do we do this? It's easier to show rather than attempt to explain, so I'll use myself as an example and start with a list of things I want to do in 2018. My list is neither complete nor in order of priority, but you could certainly make your list of wants in a specific order. So here's my list:

1. Blog more on Steemit
2. Run a contest on Steemit
3. Learn Japanese
4. Spend/waste less time playing video games that are not related to gambling or other useful skills.

Now that I've made the list, it's time to analyze each of these items in further detail.

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Want 1: Blog more on Steemit

Why I want to do this: Because one of the main purposes of Steemit, as I understand it, is to contribute meaningful content. Thus far in the time I've been here on Steemit, I don't think I've contributed much. That is largely the result of an early decision I made to focus on taking part in contests rather than posting. That decision has resulted in my doing some commenting and has paid dividends, but I feel that this path can only get me to a certain point. To go beyond I need to post, and not just comment, on a more regular basis.

How I can get it done: There are several things that I could do. Since I make my living by gambling, I keep detailed logs and records of my daily results. I do it so I can see where I stand at any point in time, and also to be able to satisfy documentation requirements in case I get a tax audit. Replicating these detailed logs on Steemit would not be a smart thing for me to do; however, posting an analysis and summary of each day's or week's results could help me on the documentation end, while at the same time be of interest to certain niche audiences (e.g. people who are curious about or like to gamble, and maybe those interested in psychology and the successful gambler's mindset). On days that I don't gamble I could then try to post things of more general interest.

Favorable factors: Gambling blogs wouldn't be too difficult to write up.

Unfavorable factors: The quality of the gambling content I post might suffer, and non-gambling posts would probably be quite time-consuming and not easy for me to write up.

Other notes: none

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Want 2: Run a contest on Steemit

Why I want to do this: Because I've already participated in many contests and done reasonably well for myself. The contests I've taken part in have been hosted by people who live on 6 different continents, and I have won contests that have originated from 6 different continents. Add in contests that I took a look at and chose to not participate in, and I've seen a lot of ideas out there. I'm not looking to put together a contest that will be massively popular, but one that I think will be fun.

How I can get it done: A lot of advance planning and preparation of contest materials. I envision holding a contest as a one-off event in either the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2018, but I want to prepare at least 2-3 contests' worth of content in advance just in case there is a surprising demand to run more contests.

Favorable factors: I've already got a pretty clear idea of what I want to do for a contest in my head, including content/materials.

Unfavorable factors: Several; I envision that preparing a contest will be far more time-consuming than putting together a typical non-gambling blog post. Also, I tend to have trouble with taking a concept that is in my brain and following it up by putting that idea on paper and/or implementing it. (In sharp contrast, when I see something that is already out there, it's much easier for me to figure out a tweak that could improve it -- go figure.)

Other notes: Perhaps my best of chance of actually putting a contest out on Steemit is to run one that both parodies and pays homage to some of the ones that I liked participating in the most...

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Want 3: Learn Japanese

Why I want to do this: Because I've tried it once before and failed, or rather, just couldn't make as much progress as I would've liked. I used two resources to try to teach myself Japanese; one was a website that offered free lessons but then switched to a paid subscription model at which point I stopped using it. The other resource was a Nintendo DS release which apparently didn't have great quality control. I got stonewalled after getting through about 400-500 words (from the two resources combined) and haven't found the time to go back to study since.

Another reason I want to learn Japanese is I hope to visit Japan one day and I don't want to go there and be a bakagaijin (stupid foreigner) during my stay. One of my friends was born in Japan (though he currently doesn't live there), and my mother has a friend who has a family in Japan, and that friend has been urging me to visit Japan for a long time now. I insist on being as best-prepared as I can before I make that trip, though. One of the most important means of preparation is to have at least some competence in Japanese.

How I can get it done: I'm honestly not sure. Of the four items I've listed this is probably the lowest-priority item at the moment. Between needs and other higher-priority wants that I've got, where will I find the time?

Favorable factors: I already have all the materials I need. When the once-free website announced that they were switching to a paid subscription model, I took the time to download the entire curriculum they had at the time -- 6000 Japanese words. However, only the first 2000 words are considered to be basic Japanese; that would be the most important stuff that I need to learn. Then there's also that Nintendo DS software.

Unfavorable factors: The biggest problem with the website curriculum was that it got saved into a jumbled format and I need to re-organize all the material into spreadsheets to make it comprehensible before I could start studying the website's material again. I just checked before writing this post, and apparently I've got only the first 1.5 lessons of the curriculum re-organized.

Other notes: none

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Want 4: Spend/waste less time playing video games that are not related to gambling or other useful skills.

^{Modification of a pic originally from Metro Trains Melbourne/Dumb Ways To Die.}

Why I want to do this: For a long time I've relied on gaming as a mental crutch, in order to maintain my sanity in my stressful life. But recently I've been finding that video games hasn't really provided me with much enjoyment. Time not spent playing video games mindlessly and without purpose can then be budgeted towards other things, like the other wants on my list. This doesn't mean cutting out video games completely, though. For example, playing a video game to practice for a pending casino version would be a reasonable use of my time, as would playing a game that's written in Japanese in order to test my reading comprehension. Trying to complete the repair of Dumbtune in Dumb Ways To Die 3 though, that's no good -- and the kind of activity I want to cut down on in 2018.

How I can get it done: I guess this all boils down to my level of motivation and my impulses. Either I do it or I don't -- there is no "try" for this.

Favorable factors: none

Unfavorable factors: Within the last week, news articles have come out discussing the idea that gaming disorder could be a real thing. Based on the information I could gather from those articles, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that I do have a gaming disorder, but the means of getting a proper evaluation might still be a few years away. What I am absolutely certain of is that I have certain compulsive behaviors, some of which may have shown through in my commenting -- not so much the comments themselves but more like my posting patterns. These same compulsive behaviors though, have paid dividends for me both on Steemit and in the real world with gambling. I don't know if I can just "turn off one faucet" for video games and leave everything else (Steemit, gambling, etc.) running, though.

Other notes: none

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The Takeaway

I'm not bothering with New Year's resolutions. I've made my list of things I want to do in 2018 and analyzed every item. Towards the end of 2018, I plan to look back at this list and make a post then to discuss my results/progress. If you are used to doing New Year's resolutions, I hope that by showing you my process and train of thought, that I've provided an alternative that will be more useful than just making generic declarations.

Whatever you want to do in 2018, so long as it's for good, may you succeed at it! Enjoy the final day of 2017 and have a Happy New Year, Steemians!