As the new year begins, many scramble to set their New Year’s Resolutions. For those with self discipline and grit, these resolutions are perfect opportunities for enlightenment on their journey towards Nirvana. Unfortunately, these inspirational souls are few and far between. For the majority, New Year’s resolutions are a chance to valiantly create grand plans for the new year, only to forget about them mere weeks later once the excitement from the New Year’s party wears off. While these New Year’s Resolutions are meant to encourage self improvement, more often than not they become a source of shame and self-hatred. To avoid facing the resulting feelings of guilt and judgement from others, here are some tips to conquering New Year’s resolutions.
Break down large goals into smaller tasks
What often gets in the way of following through with goals can be the overwhelming nature of the resolutions themselves. Over time, seemingly attainable New Year’s resolutions fade into obscurity by the next year, or worse, snowball into a colossal burden. Junior Mia Makarem shares similar sentiments regarding the implausible nature of most New Year’s resolutions.
“I think people, myself included, may make goals that feel overwhelming and hard to achieve so they never get done,” Makarem said.
By breaking down such overwhelming goals into smaller steps, following through with them is sure to be more doable. Even better, these smaller tasks are easier to ignore. That is, until the crippling wave of guilt strikes again next year.
Eliminate distractions
Sometimes segmenting resolutions isn’t enough, as time still presents an issue. Even with sufficient motivation, reality may not be kind enough to accommodate one’s plans. Frequently, outside commitments prove to be an obstacle to accomplishing New Year’s resolutions. Work, school, family and other such trivial obligations waste precious time, time that could instead be spent committing to goals set in the new year.
“I’ve been so busy this semester that I haven’t gotten much time for [setting resolutions]… with the studying and homework I tend to not make time for things I want to take up,” Makarem said.
Luckily, the solution is easy. Simply cutting down on unnecessary obligations is bound to allocate plenty of time. Time liberated from distractions like maintaining relationships or taking care of loved ones can then be put forth into achieving goals for the new year.
Stick to smaller resolutions
Then again, why worry about doing difficult things when they can be avoided altogether? When it comes to creating goals to accomplish in the new year, many gravitate towards grandiose, yet impossible goals. It may be tempting to resolve to “exercise more,” or “drink more water.”
However, such ambitious resolutions only set the stage for crushing disappointment. What may have started out as a courageous attempt to improve a lifestyle is sure to devolve into a reminder of one’s inevitable failures. Too often, many people set unrealistic aims for themselves, which only cultivates feelings of distress and guilt once they are inevitably forgotten. Setting smaller resolutions circumvents this issue, and makes achieving them far more feasible.
Sophomore Hajar Alshekhle attests to the benefits of creating more manageable resolutions.
“If you do choose to go for smaller goals, they definitely can be easier,” Alshekhle said.
For instance, instead of creating challenging and frankly unnecessary resolutions like “being more mindful” or “getting at least eight hours of sleep”, one could simply opt to “breathe occasionally” or “sleep at least once a week”. Afterall, why bother to achieve such difficult goals when one could just lower the bar?
Regardless of which strategies are pursued, it’s crucial to keep in mind the true spirit of New Year’s resolutions. The focus of the new year isn’t to spotlight how many goals can be achieved, but rather to encourage individuals to better themselves.
Too much emphasis on the goals themselves risks demoralizing people, especially with the judgement that friends or family may bring. While the approval of others might seem to be the most important, what truly counts is the effort and spirit put into self-improvement.
