Every year, every girl makes a list of everything they want to change or do differently the next year. It usually includes losing weight, going to the gym, getting better grades, getting a boyfriend or some typical goal that we probably won’t reach. We set these goals excepting to reach them, but if you’re like me, come Feburary, I’m still the same weight, I never go to the library and I’m still single. I barely reach my goals, so I just feel worse than I did when I set them. Sometimes, New Year’s resolutions can be a bad thing. Setting too many goals or setting goals that we really can’t stick to just end up making us feel like failures. When setting goals this year, here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
Make them realistic.
Saying, “Oh, I’m going to go to the gym everyday.” However, you are taking 15 hours, including organic chemistry, working 20 hours a week, plus you’re volunteering. It makes it impossible to really hold yourself to working out everyday.
If you are realistic about what is possible and what you can really do, you are more likely to achieve that goal. Rather than setting the bar so high, you struggle reaching it and just give up. Really think about what you want to achieve, and what you can realistically achieve.
Pick a few, not twenty.
We all like making lists; it’s in our nature. But when setting goals for the New Year, a long list can be a little disheartening. When making a list, be realistic and think of three things you want most and then make your list. Or break up the year into sections; each section is a different goal you want to achieve. If you spread them out, you are able to focus on one at a time, and you are more likely to achieve them.
Pick things that don’t conflict.
Don’t choose to become a social butterfly and a better student in the same semester, because, frankly, you will lose at one. You will either choose studying over going to the bars or vice versa. Choose things that will complement each other or that won’t make another goal harder to reach. Or plan to divide your time between the two: save Sunday through Thursday for studying and dedicate the weekend to going out. If you realize that one goal might harm the other, you might want to rethink your goals a little bit.
Setting goals is great. It gives us something to push for and helps us become a better person. But those goals have to be realistic. You have to be able to achieve them. Otherwise it could backfire and things get worse for you. Before that clock strikes midnight and you grab that cutie for a kiss, make sure the goals you set for yourself are important ones, and work for them. With that, have great New Years ladies!