How strange is it for driven adults to choose to improve themselves in Jan, then renege on this weeks later? 

So. If that absurdity is too much, then how strange is it to note when, eight months later, a famous stranger nudges you to return to the goals, which you’d lost track of.

In mid- or late-August, as youngsters are reminded to come Back-to-School, few adults wonder “what or how well did I act on those exciting New Year goals? 

In the “Schwarzenegger Pump Club” email newsletter of August 11; it nudges readers about neglected goals:

“Like so many people, August comes around and the goals you set in January are a distant memory. Every year, it amazes me how many people quit on their goals when there is still time to finish the year healthier, happier, and stronger.

So, rather than waiting until January, I’m issuing you a challenge,” Schwarzenegger wrote. 

I don’t care what happened up till now; I care that you take action. Any action at all. Today, I want you to commit to something by answering one question:

What will you do for the final four months of the year to make sure you improve in 2024?..

I’m simply asking you to be better tomorrow than you were today, every day, and to commit to something. Accountability and support help you take action.

Too many times, people spend time chasing “the next big thing.” But the real secret isn’t complicated. You have to find something that helps you become a little better. That’s all.

If you and your training partner walked 5,000 steps yesterday, walk 5,001 today. If you ate one vegetable yesterday, eat two tomorrow. If you did a pushup for the first time today, do two tomorrow…”

The research data about resolution efficacy shows pessimism or fast quitters. Shallow commitment That data almost affirms the fact that by August most have reverted to the habits and lifestyles, which they swore they would improve:

From LinkedIn: Very few people satisfy their New Year goals. And, according to an AI search via Perplexity.ai, research on New Year’s resolutions provides some insights into how many Americans are likely to still be acting on their resolutions by August, though specific data for that month is limited. Here’s what we can infer from the available information:

“Initial Resolution-Making About 30% of Americans report making at least one New Year’s resolution. This suggests that a significant portion of the population engages in this annual tradition of goal-setting.

Unfortunately, many people abandon their resolutions quite quickly: 23% quit their resolution by the end of the first week 43% quit by the end of January

This rapid drop-off indicates that a large percentage of resolution-makers don’t maintain their goals for very long. The statistics for long-term adherence to resolutions are not particularly encouraging: Only 9% of Americans who make resolutions complete them”

That 9% completion rate will sober people. That reality is common enough to be a trope showing a failing of the $Billion human potential aka self-improvement field. These are books, podcasts, and the 21^st-Century ilk. In January, momentarily ambitious adults pay money for products or access to lessons. Then days or weeks later they’re distracted by ever more digital lifestyles to lose sight of those aspirations. Again. 

There are four months, one-third of 2024 remaining. I need to return my focus to or refine my aspirations. During the next four months, September and October will be prime. The months of November and December will be made stressful by seasonal blues, and become frenetic by Christian-oriented Thanksgiving Christmas and similar year-end activities.