It’s that time of year again where everyone buys a discount gym membership and only attend a few Zumba classes before calling it quits. “I want to be healthy” or “I want to look better” are often the thoughts in the forefront of people’s minds while participating in this new year, new me purchasing craze. No one is perfect, I also fall prey to such mentalities when entering the new year, but this year I wanted to make a conscious effort to distinguish between sentiment and action. Here are some tips formed from my own experiences and professional recommendations on how to put your best foot forward going into the new year.
1. Write your resolutions down
The desire to make a change is a great start, but what happens when March rolls around and you can’t remember what you were working towards to begin with? By writing down your resolutions you have something to refer back to.
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2. Be specific
As I mentioned earlier, “I want to be healthy” is not a sufficient goal that can be kept up with for most. What defines “health” to you? Is it going to the gym three times a week? Is it eating a salad at least once a week? If you delve into the specifics of what goal you are setting and why, flaking on your resolutions becomes all the more difficult. It’s all about making the change you want to see attainable.
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3. Keep a time frame in mind for each goal
Are the goals you are setting lifetime goals or goals that are meant to be achieved by the end of the year. For example, there is a difference in simply “paying off credit card debt” and “paying of credit card debt by July 1st of 2020”. By setting a time frame for certain resolutions, you can allow yourself the opportunity to relish in your eventual successes.
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4. Make sure you are setting goals for the right reasons
If you are setting goals to look like another person or to satisfy another person then you are not only less likely to succeed at your resolutions, but find less fulfillment as well.
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5. Create a plan to hold yourself accountable
I find that journaling is extremely beneficial in keeping myself aware of my progress and shortcomings. There are a lot of great resources on Pinterest and other platforms on how to turn logging your life goals into a sort of creative outlet.
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6. Try not to be hard on yourself
Everyone has good and bad days, so don’t allow one bad day of not keeping up with your resolutions make you abandon your goal entirely. The whole point of a resolution or goal is that you are working towards something you have yet to perfect within your own life, and it’s normal for there to be a few bumps in the road.
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You are capable of anything you set your mind to, collegiettes!