I'm sick of resolving to do things every year and then do them for just a week or so, only to give up. After talking to my friend Alyssa, I've decided to institute a reward system. She has to accomplish certain goals each week, and if she completes them she buys herself a private boxing lesson. This seems like such a simple idea and I think it could work for me.

I'll have a simple point system for each of the things I'd like to do. Ideally, it will work something like a credit card rewards program (but with attainable goals) If I reach my goal, I'll set aside $15 to spend on toys (CDs, movies, video games, etc.).

Below are my resolutions for 2005. Each time I do one of these things in a week, I get a point. I'm going to start with 15 points as my threshold until it's warm enough to bike; after that it'll go up to 20. Also, for every point over 15 I'll add a dollar to the pot.

1. Ride my bike to work (1 point for each direction)
2. Floss
3. Go to the gym
4. Email an out-of-town friend for no particular reason
5. Post to my photoblog
6. Pack a lunch for work

This is a decent start. If this works, I'll begin to add things and up the point threshold. I'll also be adjusting the threshold on the fly if it is much to easy to accomplish my goals.

After the first month of putting this into practice I'll give you an update.