Resolutions and the Rebel

I just finished Gretchen Rubin’s latest book, and I’ve been kind of obsessed with her Four Tendencies. (The briefest possible explanation is that it’s a matrix of how you respond to outer expectations—like deadlines and appointments—and inner expectations—like goals and resolutions.)

You’d think I’d be all over INNER expectations at least, but I was surprised when I took her quiz and it said I was a Rebel—someone who resists both kinds of expectations. The more I think about it, though, the more I think that’s accurate for me. Rebels can meet expectations, but only if they want to—and it’s important to me to keep my clients, for example, so therefore I meet my work deadlines. And I can keep my personal resolutions, too, as long as they still interest me and I still want to—which explains why I change them every month. (And why I MUST remember to stay motivated.)

One of the strategies Rubin suggests for Rebels who want to meet their goals is, instead of thinking about what you want to do, to reframe them in terms what kind of person you are. I’m finding that incredibly helpful. Now that I’m thinking of myself as a person who takes great care of herself (as per my affirmation), I’m finding my health-related goals pretty easy to follow through on. Not only that, but I’m getting up from my desk more often, keeping things more organized, taking my vitamins more faithfully, lifting more weights, and reading more books. None of those were explicit goals, so either it’s the magical power of “January” at work (entirely possible) or I’m on to something here.