2018 was probably the most difficult year of my life. I let myself go in many ways and I feel like I fell off my track of bettering both myself and my life as a whole. So, as the new year was approaching, I made it a conscious effort to really work on myself and let 2019 be my year. My goals for 2019 were:
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Create a healthy relationship surrounding food, health and working out
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Get into a good school
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Actually enjoy my first semester of college
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Save more money
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Journal more often
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Get more sleep
I hadn’t looked at these in a while and I recently realized that I have actually accomplished all these things and my life did make the turn around that I had wanted it to.
Society leads us to believe that it’s very difficult to achieve your goals for the year and there are even stats that say that most give up by February. But you don’t have to fall under that statistic and you can achieve whatever you plan to in the new year, and here’s how:
First, be realistic. That’s the one thing I noticed from my past resolutions. I was way too optimistic and forgot what I could actually handle, leading me to become very discouraged, and ultimately quitting once I wasn’t making the progress I had hoped to. For example, if you’d like to start working out more often, set a realistic weekly goal, like 3 days, versus planning to go 5 days a week when you hadn’t worked out in months. This will, in turn, make your goals a lot more digestible for you and you’ll be more likely to accomplish them.
Second, don’t be so hard on yourself! Things come up, circumstances change and we may not have the same ability as we used to, making it more difficult to continue the goals you had set previously. Allow yourself that flexibility—and it’s completely okay to change a resolution partway into the year. They aren’t set in stone and no one is going to punish you for it. A way to also not feel super fixed on a particular goal is to make it a little more ambiguous, in terms of specific numbers. For example, I said I wanted to “journal more,” versus saying “every night,” because I couldn’t guarantee that I’d be able to do that; but, I wanted to do more than what I was currently doing. Say you planned to cook more at home in the new year, but you had a couple of really busy weeks, causing you to have to eat out. Let yourself do it without feeling guilty, but don’t use it as an excuse to continue doing it even if you have the ability to cook at home. This will change your outlook on your goals. They are no longer a form of restriction, but rather, a form of adaptable guidance that will let reach your goals.
Lastly, tell a friend. Having an accountability partner will make accomplishing your goals much easier to do. You won’t feel alone in your journey of becoming your ideal self and it’s fun to have someone alongside you. In previous years, I always kept my resolutions to myself so that I could save face if I didn’t keep up with them. But obviously that did more harm than good, and it led to years of unaccomplished resolutions. I began to confide in my best friend about my resolutions and she kept me on track, especially during times when I felt like giving up. And when you share with others, you realize that most share the same goals as you, so you all can go into it together as opposed to alone.
So be sure to write down every single one of your newly revised resolutions and go and become a better you in this new year and decade.