Your Standards for 2025
Achieve your resolutions, intentions or goals
It’s officially that time of year.
If you’re like most people, you’re done with reflecting on the prior year and have probably spent time planning for the new one. Now it’s time to execute and get to work.
Perhaps you’ve set new year resolutions, the longtime adage that gets applied to ending our vices, becoming healthier, and living a better life. A resolution, according to the dictionary, is “the act or process of resolving; the act of determining; firmness of resolve.” It’s something we set in the present, often with little detail or a specific action plan.
If you don’t like the word resolutions then perhaps you’ve set intentions, a word that, based on my experience, seems to have become more popular in the last decade or so. An intention, according to the dictionary, is “what one intends to do or bring about; a determination to act in a certain way.” Similar to resolutions, this is something we set in the present but often doesn’t have an end time. And in my view, intentions is more firm than resolutions since it’s thinking about the end in mind and, as the definition states, gets closer to action.
If neither of these words resonate with you, perhaps you’ve simply set goals, “the end toward which effort is directed; the terminal point.” Interestingly, this word might be something we set in the present but it’s all about the future, with a set point in time that serves as a deadline. Sometimes we set smaller goals to move towards the bigger one and/or create an action plan that specifies what we need to do to achieve the goal.
Whatever your choice of language (words do matter) to characterize your new year plans, I hope you also give some thought to the standards you’d like to set and/or raise in the new year. A standard is “a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable; something established as a model or measure of quality.”
To me, the key words in this definition are level and quality. Both words offer a sense of clarity that is lacking with resolutions, intentions, or goals. And perhaps the biggest distinction (at least in my mind) is that standards don’t just matter in the present or the future but have ongoing relevance. Furthermore, they provide a simple way to set an action plan to achieve whatever resolution, intention, or goal we may have.
Here’s an example: one of my intentions for this year is to create a plan for publishing a book on standards in the next 2-4 years.
The standards I’ve set to help me get to this plan include:
maintain a digital journal of standards I observe, experience, and hear about
on my calendar, block out two hours for writing three days a week (this includes weekends)
actually write during those time blocks ;-)
organize a network of people I know who can help through their shared experiences and contacts (published authors, ghostwriters, others in the publishing industry)
The items above are things I plan to do on an ongoing basis to help me fulfill my intention of creating a plan to publish a book; they’re not about the present or the future. Each of the four is a means to an end. Put another way, they’re not goals but actions I plan to take towards my goal. None of them are simple actions or tasks that I can check off…they’re standards I must meet on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to move towards my intention.
Each of the four items meets that definition of a standard: “a level of quality, achievement, etc., that is considered acceptable or desirable; something established as a model or measure of quality.”
Here’s another example: many people resolve or intend to eat healthier. The following could be standards they set to do that:
eat beans, legumes, and plant-based proteins rather than animal proteins and meat products
plan, prepare, and cook meals in advance
avoid buying packaged foods
eat fruits and vegetables for snacks
cut back on or stop drinking alcohol
Again, none of these are tasks that can be checked off one time. They are ongoing standards that must be met in order to fulfill the intention of eating healthier: levels of quality, achievement, etc., that are acceptable or desirable.
So go back to your resolutions, goals, or intentions and see if you have action items you were planning to execute.
If so, are they simple tasks you can check off, like joining a gym or buying hiking boots? Or are they ongoing standards that will actually move you towards successful completion, like going to the gym every other day or hiking a new trail once a week?
If you don’t already have action items to support your resolutions or goals or intentions, then try to come up with at least three standards to help you move towards them.
And if you struggle to come up with such standards, drop a comment below and I’ll be happy to help.
Sounds like an exciting 2025 intention & standards. Regarding "actually write during those time blocks," I recently discovered www.focusmate.com — you might like it :)