I'm not sure if resolutions are appropriate or best practice, since the evidence shows that most people fall off pretty quickly. However, goal setting, and more importantly, sharing your goals are shown to be a much more effective way of improving yourself or reaching a target.
For me, 2019 will be the first year in 3 years where I'm not in a formal education curriculum. I finished my Masters of Science in Strength and Conditioning this past July. This new reality is both a blessing and a curse since I don't have someone spoon feeding me work, and keeping me organized. However it allows me more freedom to learn what I want and become more well rounded. Therefore, I want to take most of that time I was spending on my MSc. and help me develop my skills to best serve my athletes.
My goals for 2019 include: * Read 1 journal article per week
* Read 1 book per month * Connect and talk with 1 new strength coach/professional per month [Thanks to Jay at St. Lawrence College for this idea]
* Read 1 textbook per quarter
* Attend/complete 1 certification/workshop per year
* Attend 1 conference per year * Spend 2 hours per week on developing content
* Spend 2 hours per week improving my sport science skill
* Have 1 journal article published
* Present a new poster to my coaches or university related to sport science
I think each of these goals follow the S.M.A.R.T. acronym of being specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time oriented. I could have said "I'm going to develop more content", but that would not be measurable, or challenging to decide if I accomplished it. By saying that I will spend 2 hours per week on it, makes it more likely to happen.
I'll follow up with an article on how I will achieve some of these things. In the mean time, all the best to you this new year. What are your goals to make 2019 better than 2018?