Happy Holidays, Spartans. For the record, I’m trying to come up with a better nickname for us Case students because, as it is, the nickname “Spartans” is used by over 100 schools nationally a bit overused. Anyway, as you’ve had the last couple of weeks to get back into your everyday routine of sleeping, going to class, studying, and sleeping some more (with the occasional meal squeezed in there somewhere), I can only imagine how hard of a time you must be having sticking to your ever so important new year’s resolution. I’m going to guess that, like me, you were too busy during winter break to give it much thought, but now that you’ve made it this far with your resolution, you deserve a round of applause. You see, a lot of things tend to die after the first month: house flies, celebrity marriages, and middle school relationships. However, if you’ve already given up or forgotten about it your New Year’s resolution then take a few seconds to remember it and stop accepting failure, because at my high school, we had a motto: “DON’T BE THAT KID!” Cliché? Yes. Great piece of advice? Yes. Am I only bringing up this bit of information to help me reach the word count requirement of this article? You guessed it. My point is, stop being that kid that thinks he or she perfect and that a New Year’s resolution is a waste of time. Wipe that smug expression off your face, unpop your collar and choose one of your faults to eradicate over the next 50 weeks. Now, without further filler or delay of any sort, I give you five valuable pieces of advice on how to continue with your New Year’s resolution(s) past the first month. Word count so far? 328.
DON’T SET YOURSELF UP TO FAIL
Do you really think you are going to grow ten inches, establish world peace or beat The Ohio State Buckeyes? If you do, then please follow this link. If you actually are somewhat sane, you should know that the aforementioned scenarios are examples of ridiculous New Year’s resolutions. The most important part of the resolution process is choosing one that is achievable and within your control since there’s no point in setting yourself up to fail from the beginning. Instead of working towards world peace, why don’t you start small by not freaking out at your friend for breaking into your room when you’re in class? Before you jump the gun by attempting to beat the Buckeyes, why not start small and work on beating Akron by more than four points at a home game?
INTEGRATE
I’m all for trying new things. Hell, just the other day I strayed from the path and ordered Pizza Hut instead of Dominoes…needless to say, I’m a pretty adventurous guy. Choose a resolution that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine because you shouldn’t have to go out of your way in order to fulfill said resolution. If your goal is get out more on campus, don’t go signing up for every other club that hands you a flyer. Find a way to get out that is convenient for you; an example? If you’re in the library late into most evenings then take a break and make the 30-second walk to the Jolly Scholar for trivia night, happy hour, or, my personal favorite, karaoke night. Look local and find something to get involved with that comfortably fits into your schedule so that you look forward to it instead of stressing about it.
BUDDY SYSTEM
You’ll be surprised how much easier it is to go to the gym when you have a lifting partner. Check out these two champs right here.
DON’T BAIL
Okay, so maybe you skipped a workout or cheated on your diet. Don’t panic or give up -Coldplay told us “nobody said that it was easy” and, for the sake of this article and my credibility, I’m going to agree with them on this one. If you skipped a workout day just stick to your regimen, there isn’t any dire need to immediately make it up (unless it was a leg day, in which case you should stop reading this article and do 200 body squats right now), just trade it with one of your rest days, problem solved. And the whole diet thing? No worries -luckily your diet is willing to forgive you for your infidelity and take you back with open arms no matter how many times you decide to take advantage of its kindness and cheat on it time and time again until you emotionally scar and damag it, forever turning it into a bitter pitiful shell of it’s former self and a walking time bomb…uhhh….yeah. Anyhow, don’t let a stumbling block keep you down for too long: failure isn’t falling down, it’s not getting back up. (Don’t you dare try to steal that last line about failure, I’m getting that line trademarked and submitting it to be used in an epic sports movie at some point. You’ve been warned).
FIND MOTIVATION
This is for those of you who, after reading the previous four pieces of genius advice, are still thinking “I don’t know if this’ll actually help me” or “I’ve tried everything but I’m still struggling.” You, my friend, are either a Cleveland sports fan or have some serious motivational issues. In Remember The Titans, coach Boone wakes up his turbulent team on an early foggy morning and takes them to the location of the Battle of Gettysburg to teach them a lesson about brotherhood and camaraderie. From that point on, the team works to integrate and “start playing the game (of football) like men”, leaving behind their previous problems with race as they go on to have an historic season. Whenever you don’t feel that you can continue with your resolution and that it is too difficult, find some motivational stories and speeches about success and what it means to achieve a goal. Download a couple of motivational speeches onto your iPod, Google Eric Thomas, create a mental picture of what you want to become and hold onto it. Woody Hayes once said that success is “what you do with what you got.” I may not know you, I may not want to know you, but I bet that what you have is more than enough to succeed. Except for you Devin Gardner.