As 2019 approached, I sat down and looked at the goals I had made for 2018 and realized that I hadn’t seen most of them through. If I wasn’t going to follow through with my goals for 2019, then why make them? So, still stung with my personal failures of 2018, I sat down and made these goals for 2019. Now that I have gone through the year and completed most of them, I’m happy with the memories and skills I have from going through with them. So as I look forward to 2020, I am going to go through each of my 2019 resolutions to remember why I made them and what I gained by following through with them. If you’re struggling to make next year’s resolutions, I hope that this can give you some inspiration to go into 2020 with!
- Go to College
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Now, this may seem like a cop-out, but when I was writing these resolutions, I had no clue where I was going to go and how I was going to like it. Sometimes the things that we are going to do anyways are still worth celebrating. So if you already run every day because of a team that you’re on, good job! If you write constantly for your classes, be proud! These activities and experiences we have don’t always have to be out of our comfort zone or completely foreign to us to be worth doing and being proud of. Take time to celebrate yourself and appreciate all the little (or big) things you do every day! This was my way of celebrating myself for something I knew I was going to do and I hope this inspires you to do the same.
- Survive my AP Tests
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As a senior in high school, I was quickly getting burnt out on all of the work that school was still throwing at me. For me at least, the AP tests signaled the end of all the high school stuff and the beginning of the college stuff. Although at times I felt frustrated with high school things, this resolution helped me keep perspective and remember not to give up too soon because I still had AP tests to get through after all. This doesn’t necessarily have to apply to the end of high school; it could be finals, the end of a work experience, or a trip you’ve been planning for a while. No matter what transitions you have to look forward to this year, I hope you are enjoying the whole process as much as possible!
- Go on a Service Trip
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This is the resolution that I didn’t complete, and I am completely okay with that. Just because I didn’t go on a trip through a youth group or other organization doesn’t mean I didn’t do cool service work! There’s no point in being upset with ourselves over the things that didn’t quite happen, so why hang up on it? If you didn’t complete any number of your resolutions last year, don’t sweat it. It doesn’t make you any less accomplished or wonderful. These are opportunities to be gentler with ourselves and look past what we may not have done and focus on what we rocked at this past year. No matter how your resolutions went last year, take a breath, remember all the great things you did accomplish, and focus on how incredible you are. That’s what resolutions are for, right? To work to improve our already fabulous selves!
- Get a Second Ear Piercing
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Now, this is one that I didn’t do until nearly the end of the year but it is something that I wanted to get done for a while. When I was playing sports, there were always rules about what jewelry was allowed at games so I always held off because I wouldn’t be able to keep the new piercing in 24/7 like I was supposed to. Now that I’m done with high school sports, I’m finally able to do this for myself. If you’ve been thinking for a while about making a change to your appearance, maybe the new year is an opportunity to go for it. I love doing little things like this to my appearance and feel like they change my whole mood. If you feel the same way, then I hope you take an opportunity to feel your best this year!
- Read 12 Books
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One thing that will always frustrate me about myself is how little I read considering how much I love it. For this resolution, you could insert any hobby that you have that you really should do more of, for example, hiking, painting, writing, playing a sport, or whatever you like to do with your time. But instead of writing down a statement such as “Read more” I wanted to have something quantitative that I could track. So for this one, I picked 12, and for next year I may increase it to 15 or whatever number I want to set for myself. I find that when I am able to measure my goals, their much easier to complete, and I get excited about reaching my goal the more completed books I add to my list. So whatever activity you want to do more of next year, set some sort of measurable limit for yourself and track it. The more you follow through, the more excitement you can get from doing an activity you already love!
So as we all craft our resolutions for next year, I hope you are making ones that will help you be happier in the upcoming year. In order to keep my resolutions focused on personal growth and my own happiness, I tend to stay away from ones such as, “work out every day” or “win (insert competition here).” Whatever you want to do to make yourself feel good and go for it! We will always have ways that we want to improve ourselves, and as long as we’re happy doing it, then there’s nothing we can’t accomplish. So, pens at the ready, I hope we all go into this time of resolution setting with inspiration, self love, and excitement for the year to come.