This entry is about new year’s resolutions, particularly the one I made for 2008. Like many of you, I resolved to exercise more. Specifically, I set the goal to work out three times a week. Also like many of you, I failed.

I started exercising seriously in 2000. Family made a plan to visit Washington, D.C. and that worried me. Everyday I came home exhausted; I would take a nap before supper. Could I walk 4 to 6 hours a day for several days? To test, I tried to run and couldn’t even finish a lap. That scared me. So I started running and gradually increased the distance. By the time we took the trip, several months later, I could finish a mile (four laps).

A couple of years later, family planned for Grand Canyon. A friend recommended the mule ride and I wanted to do it. But there is a 190 pounds weight limit, fully dressed. I was, eh, over the limit. Motivated, I notched up my running and watched my diet. On the day of the weigh-in — finishing three miles by then — I triumphantly passed. (I think I was really 191, but they just waved me through.) The memory of the ride would last a lifetime, so would the effect of the weight lost and exercising. I like the “lightness” feeling and the extra energy. So, instead of exercising for a project (D.C. trip, Grand Canyon, etc.), I adopted it into my lifestyle. As a nerd, I also started record those activities into a spreadsheet. (If you read this Scott, high-five.) A “work-out” is a cadio-vascular aerobic activity that produces sufficent perspiration and lasts at least 15 minutes.

In social setting, my standard answer to the question “so, how many times you work out each week?” has always been, “about 3 times.” The spreadsheet would prove that a lie. In 2008, I made a resolution to make it real and had an iron-clad plan. I would work out every other day. The arithmetic was solid. It cannot fail.

Wrong! I was weak-minded. There were raining days, sick days, busy days, traveling days, hot days, cold days, vacation days, and plain old lazy days. That “every other day” regiment ended 2008 with 123 work-outs, or a pathetic 2.37 times a week on average.

When 2008 ended, I renewed my resolution for 2009. I would work out everyday. Yes. I would head for the gym, or hit the pavement, if there is an hour of break in a day. I don’t reschedule meetings, I don’t skip social activities, I make time for family and friends, I don’t run in the dark, I don’t force it if I am sick. With this new strategy, I have managed 156 times, just enough to claim three times a week. Whew!

The conclusion? Weak-minded people need to aim higher.