Make a New Kind of New Year's Resolution

With just a week left to fulfill those pesky 2010 new year's resolutions, we say, scrap 'um. For 2011, let's all make a pact to improve our surroundings instead of, or in addition to, ourselves.

It's easy with Resolution11, a new Web community that asks you to submit your service-minded resolution, lets you browse the resolutions of others and connects you to like-minded people who want to make the world a better place.

"Last summer [a friend and I] were exploring ways to challenge people to make public commitments to doing good," explained Resolution11 co-founder Rev. Charles Howard, also the university chaplain at the University of Pennsylvania. "We talked about new year's resolutions as an untapped space. People of various religious communities, ethnic groups, socio-economic levels — it's a holiday we all have in common."

Co-founder Len Matty, whose day job is in pharmaceutical marketing, agrees. "It's a nice twist on something everybody is familiar with. But if it's shifted 180 degrees, now the focus of that resolution is not on you, it's on somebody else." In years past Matty has promised himself he'd go to the gym more; this year he's seeking out an organization where he can volunteer with low-income youth.

The second step, after convincing people to pledge to do good, is to get them to do it publicly, which the founders say is a critical component of Resolution11 (and, hopefully, future iterations Resolution12, Resolution13 and so on).

Having the resolutions visible, "forces you to commit to it a little stronger," Matty said. "You're coming out and saying, I care about this cause and I'm announcing it to the world so I don't mind if I'm held accountable." He likes the idea of people close to him keeping him on track by asking, "Hey Len, how are you doing with that resolution to mentor low-income youth?"

"A community really, really facilitates progress," says Ankit Shah, a sophomore at Penn who is helping with the project. As he can attest from finding an online community to support his demanding raw vegan diet, banding together with others "inspires you to continue a course of action that's difficult." Shah has resolved to learn more about microfinance and to raise $3,000 for agricultural infrastructure projects prior to climbing the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador for Peaks Over Poverty.

One visitor named Laurence resolved to "host a 5K walk/run in the spring of 2011 to benefit Philadelphia homeless shelters in need." In the true collaborative spirit, someone named Jen made her resolution a few days later: to participate in the run for the homeless. "Every move, as far as these goals are going, has a ripple effect," Shah said.

Howard says he's continually inspired by the resolutions people are submitting. One woman said that 2011 is the year she will begin the adoption process. "Even if no one else made a resolution, the fact that a little boy is going to a get a home, that's a miracle," Howard said. He has resolved to sponsor a child through Save the Children with his family and to fast one day a week and pray for an end to extreme poverty. Feel free to check in on him throughout the year.

"I think the way we'll know this is successful is if we see that people are getting out and working on their resolutions through the year," Matty said. "Are people still at it in September?"

Make your resolution on Resolution11 and spread the word on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo by Adam Sofen via Flickr.