A resolution is simply a plan to get something done. A resolution can mean informally setting a goal, or it can be an official statement that the legislature intends to do something.
New Years Resolutions
New Years resolutions are goals that you set for yourself on January 1st, typically something to better yourself throughout the year.
Some common examples of New Years resolutions include:
- Losing weight
- Getting out of debt
- Eating healthier
- Saving more money or making smarter money decisions
- Spending more time with your family
- Being nicer to your family
- Quitting smoking
- Going back to college
- Looking seriously for a higher-paying job
- Making higher marks in school
- Spending time more productively
- Getting around to completion of creative goals
- Dedicating yourself to service
- Pledging to support charity or non-profits
- Promising to call home more often
- Deciding to a better husband or wife
- Vowing to start eating better
- Promising to stop gossiping
- Committing to sticking to your budget
The goal is to stick to them and make a lasting change.
Legislative Resolutions
Legislative resolutions express a legislature's intent to do something.
There are a few different types of legislative resolutions:
- Simple Resolutions - These only need to be passed by the house in which they originate, such as the Senate or the House. An example of a simple resolution is a resolution that sets the rules for how the Senate will operate.
- Joint Resolutions - These need to be passed by both the Senate and the House and then, once signed by the president, become law. An example of a joint resolution might be a legislative intent to create a temporary exception to a law that is on the books.
- Concurrent Resolutions - These need to be passed by the Senate and the House but aren't given to the president to sign or veto and don’t become laws. An example might be a resolution adjourning Congress for more than three days, or a resolution asking the president to return a bill he was presented with but hasn't yet signed or vetoed.
Legislative resolutions can also exist on the state level, as well as on the federal level.
Resolutions to Yourself
The last type of resolutions are firm promises made to yourself. These are similar to New Years resolutions, but might be made at any time of the year.
A resolution of this type might be prompted by a specific event. Examples, for instance, include:
- A resolution to say no next time your bossy and annoying friend wants you to go out to lunch.
- A resolution to eat better after your doctor says you are at risk for diabetes.
- A resolution to do better at work after your boss criticizes you.
- A resolution to take care of a family member in a difficult time after visiting an ailing relative in a nursing home.
- A resolution to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier in the morning when you realize how late you stay up.
- A resolution to enjoy your lunches at work by getting out of the office when someone mentions that you're always in the break room.
- A resolution to spend more time volunteering following a school-wide charity drive.
- A resolution to drive slower following the car accident of a friend.
- A resolution to save your receipts when you break something that can't be returned.
- A resolution to go jogging after your brother mentions that you've put on some weight.
- A resolution to take more time for yourself after you realize you put everyone else's needs first.
- A resolution to look into starting the business you've always wanted to after you don't get a raise for the third year in a row.
- A resolution to walk your dog more when the vet says he is getting fat.
Of course, resolutions or firm promises to yourself can also be made with no prompting at all. Either way, they are still examples of resolutions.