I love the idea of a fresh, new start. A Sunday reset is one of my favorite things to do because I feel like it sets me up well for the week ahead. If I don’t like how my previous day or week went, I feel comforted by the idea that there is a new one in front of me! So, it goes without saying that I love to make New Year’s resolutions. The idea of a whole new year, 12 months, 52 weeks ahead of me is exciting, and I love to take the time to reflect on my past year and determine tangible ways that I can improve my day-to-day life.
With that being said, I am not the best at keeping up with my resolutions. Usually, I am on top of them in January and February, excited about my ideas and really embracing the “new year new me” attitude. But, as I get into the spring and especially the summer, I lose focus and get a little lazy, telling myself: “I’ll go to the gym tomorrow” or “I’ll only spend 5 minutes on TikTok.” Then, before I know it, I become too discouraged to start working on those goals at all and give up. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s one that I am trying to break this year (I guess you can say that one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to actually work on my New Year’s Resolutions). One of the ways I decided to do this is by building monthly check-ins into my schedule! I’m hoping to spend some time at the end of each month recentering myself and reflecting on how I have been doing with some of my resolutions. My hope is that this will relieve some of the pressure I put on myself to perfectly achieve my goals for 12 months straight. Doing this will give me the opportunity to be proud of what I have accomplished so far and to look at each new month as a chance to try again on the resolutions I have let slip a little.
As it is now February, I thought I would share a few of my resolutions, give an update on how I am doing with them, and share ways I hope to improve in the next month.
- Create and stick to a weekly workout routine: This goal always lands a spot on my list of resolutions every single year, and it’s something I’ve never quite been able to implement. Typically, I get a great gym schedule going in January, but then comes a week when I am too tired to go and I convince myself I’ll start going the week after. To my dismay, this usually sets me off my routine and I never go back as regularly as I was going before. I’ve also found that it’s difficult to fit an extensive gym routine into my schedule. This semester, I’m interning 3 days a week off campus, taking four classes, and have a million other commitments, so I can really only get to the gym on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Although at first, this was discouraging, I figured it’s better to go to the gym twice a week than to never go at all, so I’ve been trying to find ways to make my time at the gym intentional and effective. My friends and I have started going to a HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) class on Thursday mornings, and they help to hold me accountable. I also started to find podcasts that I can listen to weekly as I walk on the treadmill. These two factors have really helped me to get myself into the gym, and I hope I continue to do so next month!
- Become financially responsible (track spending/budget monthly): As a soon-to-be college graduate, I figured it was about time that I started to be on top of my money. My friend Maria helped me to set up a spreadsheet where I can track my spending each month and budget how much I want to actually spend (go read her article Ways to Start Personal Money Management for some of her amazing financial tips and tricks). My goal in January was to track where my money was going so that, starting February, I could begin to stick to a budget and curb some of my frivolous spending. January was a success, and I hope this month to continue that and become a bit more financially responsible!
- Read 2+ books a month: One of my biggest goals going into this year was to get into reading again. I have been an avid reader since elementary school, but I’ve found that in college it’s a little more difficult to turn to reading in my free time when I already have to read for classes. But this year, I didn’t want that to be my excuse anymore, so I decided to really prioritize reading for fun more often. I tried to implement time into my schedule to read by bringing my Kindle on my morning commute and trying to read at least a chapter of a book before going to bed, all the while tracking my books on Goodreads to hopefully read at least 25 books this year. All of these efforts combined have worked, and in January I read 7 books! Although I’m sure this number will fluctuate each month, it’s been amazing to fall back in love with this hobby, and I already feel like it has improved my life substantially. Let’s hope this trajectory continues!
- Be on my phone less/put away my phone before I go to bed: This is another one of those resolutions that I attempt every year with no success, and so far, January has proven that to be true. Looking back at 2023, I found that I quickly turned to my phone in times of boredom or anxiety, and I hated that I have become so reliant on social media to function day to day. I hoped setting time limits on my social media apps and putting away my phone at least 15-20 minutes before going to bed would help to curb this, and for a few days it really seemed to be working. Then, one night I decided to watch TikTok before going to sleep, and I quickly fell back into my old habits. Although I was frustrated with myself, I have decided to try again this month and really try to keep myself accountable. After all, it’s a fresh new start. Here’s to less screen time in February!
I hope that by sharing both my successes and fallbacks this past month, I have inspired you to reflect on those resolutions you set only a few weeks ago and reprioritize them. If you never got around to setting those resolutions, it’s never too late! Take this next month as a chance to remember what’s important to you and to start working towards those goals you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get around to doing. Whether it’s big or small, we all could work towards something!