2 For 1 New Years Resolutions Knock-Out Plan . . . so this year I’m working on quitting a bad habit and replacing it with a better habit, I call it my “2 birds, 1 stone resolution” and here’s how it works…
New Years Resolutions Knock-Out Plan
When I was a kid my (biological) father wanted to quit swearing, so my step-monster told him that he should “pay” a quarter for each of his indiscretions. I remember being in the car and a not so sweet word would slip out and he subsequently flicked a quarter into the overflowing jar.
Eventually, he stopped cussing, for the most part, I don’t know where the money went after that, I’m sure she bought herself some designer shoes or purse with it….. the point is.. it worked. I got to thinking that the “punishment” of sorts ought to at least benefit the person that’s striving to change their life, right?
New Years Resolutions
The topmost common resolutions for New Years are:
- Lose Weight
- Build a Better Budget
- Spend More Time with Family
- Volunteer to Help Others
- Quit Smoking
- Get a Better Education
- Get a Better Job
- Save Money
- Get Fit
- Cook 1 New Thing each Week
- Eat Healthy Food
- Get Out of Debt
- Get Organized
- Create a Cleaning Schedule You Can Stick with
- Learn Something New
- Manage Stress
- Manage Debt
- Take a Trip
- Drink Less Alcohol
- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
How to Replace Bad Habits – 2 Birds, 1 Stone Resolutions
So, I implemented the 2 birds, 1 stone resolution: Everyone has a bad habit (or 3) and everyone has something they’d like to improve in their lives; with that idea in mind we’re choosing to replace the bad habit with a good one using a few popsicle sticks and a solo cup (or any container really). As my mom always used to say, make the punishment fit the crime!
Examples of 2 Birds, 1 Stone Resolutions:
Quit Swearing – Lose Weight/Get Fit = I filled a solo cup with popsicle sticks containing exercises that last 3 minutes. Each time you catch yourself (or someone else catches you) cussing you’ve got to grab a popsicle stick and do whatever exercise is listed. If you fail to reach your first goal, you’ll definitely reach your second one!
Dirty Room = De-cluttered Home – Perhaps you have a family member that tends to drop items on the floor (clothing, socks, hats, etc) or leave personal belongings where they don’t belong- such as leaving a sweatshirt on the furniture instead of putting it away, leaving shoes in front of the door, leaving book bags on the floor, etc.
Fill a cup with several decluttering chores, each time someone leaves something laying around, have them grab a quickie chore. Try to keep the chore to 3-5 minutes at most or it’ll quickly get discarded like most new year resolutions!
Drink Less- Drink More– One of the most common new years resolutions is actually to drink less (alcohol). Here’s an interesting way to force yourself to drink less.. for every single drink you consume a 16.9 oz bottle of water.
For example, you drink a beer, it must be followed with a complete bottle of water BEFORE you can have another beer. It’s a great way to train yourself to not reach for another drink and stay hydrated at the same time
Quit Junkfood -Eat Healthier- this one is hard, so… every time you put a morsel of sweet, fattening, or greasy food into your mouth, counter it with 5 minutes of exercise (minimum). It won’t take long for you to start rejecting the food to avoid punishment.
Spending Too Much Time on Facebook or Emails– each time you feel compelled to scroll through your phone on Facebook, go for a 10-minute stroll outside. Not only will it help reduce your internet consumption, but it will also greatly benefit your mental health.
Smoking– do you find yourself reaching for a cigarette throughout the day? Replace those cigarettes with individual flossers, it’ll give you something to do with your hands, and improve your dental health in more ways than one!
You’re not giving up your bad habits, you’re simply replacing them with more desired behaviors. Do you have an idea for a “2 birds, 1 stone” resolution? Feel free to share it in the comments below!
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / eteimaging
Ooh, this might work for me! I need to quit smoking and get in shape, so whenever a craving hits i could do an exercise or eat a healthy snack. Genius!
This is perfect for me! I need to quit smoking and get in shape. Every time I have a craving I’ll either do an exercise or eat a healthy snack.
Genius!
Replacing a bad habit with a good one. I wonder why I never thought of that before? I Believe this will keep me from feeling deprived and keep me motivated.
Awesome! Blessings and Peace:coffeebath:
I love the idea of 2 birds 1 stone. I think I will do the quit junk food one. I could stand to do 5 minutes of exercise every time I do something bad.
It will definitely make me think twice about grabbing the cookie from the cookie jar at night!