The most common New Year’s resolutions are about losing weight, quitting smoking, and getting more exercise. This is still the case even as we head for what we hope will be a post-pandemic 2021.

What if we took those same resolutions and applied them to our radio stations?

Lose weight! We know that eating junk food is unhealthy, but clogging up your radio station with junk programming can weigh you down, too. Junk programming is anything that doesn’t match your listeners’ needs and expectations or done with excellence. The discipline of losing weight isn’t much fun, but you’ll love it when you’re slim and trim.

Quit smoking! Smoking can be terribly addictive, but clogging up your radio station’s arteries with bad programming can be unhealthy, as well. We justify by saying we’ve always done it that way, we can’t afford to do research or train the talent, but we know deep down in our capillaries that the station would be healthier if only good stuff was flowing through our programming veins.

Exercise more! Many stations allow clutter to lower their energy and give them the blahs. Flabby areas of your programming can be avoided with regular discipline. When you add a promotion, take one away. When you add a feature, take another away. When you add a song, delete the weakest one in the library. With each discipline your radio station will become stronger and more finely tuned.

“What you are going to be tomorrow you are becoming today.”

John Maxwell