Why is setting New Year’s resolutions important?
Before setting a new year's resolution, you may be questioning why is it important? Or useful?
I can answer you simply: Firstly, resolutions are important because they give you that first sense of motivation and responsibility to achieve something meaningful in the upcoming year. Importantly, resolutions help you to take those first steps towards becoming the best version of yourself! Alternatively, imagine a year without goals. There is no commitment or motivation to achieve or aim for something, the year can even lose its purpose. No one wants a year like this, so why not make this year a success by setting a few resolutions?
Need some inspiration for the New Year's resolutions? Here are a few popular ones:
- Eat healthier throughout the year;
- Exercise at least 3 times a week;
- Travel to at least one new country;
- Stop procrastinating when studying/working;
- Save money;
- Learn a new language;
- Finish this academic year with a high score.
How to make New Year's Resolutions?
This is probably the most important part of the article regarding how to make and set your New Year's resolutions! You may want to follow a few steps process that will help you to achieve those:
- Firstly, before setting your New Year's resolutions, think about what exactly you would like to achieve this year. It may be to learn a new skill such as playing the guitar or invest in your health by eating healthier and doing more exercise or even start a new business. Wherever your goal might be, you should consider what kind of benefits this goal will bring into your life.
- Make a timeline of when you aim to achieve those goals. Some goals may only take a few weeks to achieve, others may take more than a year, so you can work on taking primary steps this year towards achieving those big goals.
- Don’t go overboard. Keep your goals in the achievable range, so you are motivated to achieve them. Goals such as becoming the CEO of Google this year may be unlikely to be achieved. Setting goals that are too high may demotivate and discourage you from working hard towards them, as they may seem simply unachievable. Alternatively, the more achievable goal may be to try and secure an internship at Google or another company in which you would like to gain some experience. Since this goal is possible to achieve, you will be motivated to work hard towards it. Also, do not set too many goals, as it may be hard to stick to them. I usually stick with 10.
- Ensure you write down your resolutions on a piece of paper, so you can review them and track your progress.
- You should write down rewards that you will give to yourself once you achieve the goal. This will motivate you, trust me!
How to stick to the New Year's resolutions?
After setting resolutions, you are motivated to achieve them, but… let’s say one or two months in, you may feel a little discouraged and lacking motivation. What can you do? And still, stay motivated to achieve your goals? Don’t worry, there are ways to increase your motivation, even if it seems impossible and giving up seems like a feasible option. Here are a few ways how you can stick to your New Year's resolutions:
First of all, you should keep reminding yourself why you have set those goals in the first place. Also, don’t forget to remind yourself what type of person you would like to become this year.
Remember that any progress matters, so even if you are going one step forward towards achieving your goal, make sure you pat yourself on the shoulder.
Treat yourself once you achieve or stick to your goals! Treating doesn’t mean eating a piece of cake when your resolution was to eat healthier this year. Instead, you can buy yourself nice clothing to encourage yourself to continue a healthy diet.
Good luck and have a wonderful year ahead!
Written by Aiste Razmaite
