It’s that time of year again, both academically and in our personal lives, where we are setting new goals and resolutions! The new year, the new decade, and the new semester makes us sit back and think about our habits and what we can do better in the upcoming year. We don’t always stick to our resolutions, but we could! Even if January was your trial month and you have to start over in February, that’s okay!
First of all, you should set goals you think you can achieve. Don’t set a goal to run a marathon if you haven’t run more than a couple of miles and the race is in a month. I believe you can run a marathon but give yourself time to train. This goes for almost all goals: start small and work your way to marathon status even if it’s working on writing a book, write one page before you attempt 100 pages. Changing one behavior at a time is easier than attempting all of them at once. Behaviors develop over time so take it one step at a time. If you mess up, that is not worth beating yourself up for. We’re only human.
Some of us have set goals to lose weight or at least become more active. It always sounds like a huge task to tackle but even going to the gym for 15 minutes is a start. Once you get there, you’ve accomplished the hardest part! Looking up a schedule of classes that the gym offers is a good way to hold yourself accountable and determine a time to go whenever the class is offered. I highly recommend the yoga classes at the WRC on SAU’s campus. They are only twice a week and give you a full workout but it’s not super intense. Mats are provided by the WRC, which is nice. Otherwise, you can look at your schedule and find a time every day or every other day to go to the gym on your time. You can decide if it’s leg day, a weights day, or what you want to do ahead of time, or even the day of if that is your style. Looking up workouts on Pinterest or YouTube is a good way to have a plan.
Your friends and family are there to support you. Talk to them about your goals and your progress through your journey. You might just find a friend that will work out with you and hold you accountable. If you work out with your roommates you could wake up at the same time and go together which is a fun way to bond. You could work out with someone you don’t get to see very often and working out is your way of seeing them and having time to catch up during your busy schedules. Even if your workout buddy lives miles away, you could text each other to keep each other motivated and on task. Anyone can hold you accountable no matter where they are or if they don’t have the motivation or time to workout with you but updating them on your workout is a good way to keep in touch and stay true to your resolution.
But, wait. There are other resolutions than just working out. Things like building a better budget, cooking something new each week, read more, travel more, go to bed at a reasonable time, etc. These are all great resolutions that can also be taken one step at a time, started small, and be held accountable by friends and family. Remember to set time aside for these things specifically and give yourself reminders perhaps by putting a note in your planner. I have already put in reminders to myself in future months to make sure I’m still on track.
Having someone who is also interested in these things also helps. Find a travel buddy and plan trips now. Find friends who recommend new recipes for you – I have aunts who have created Pinterest boards full of recipes just to give me inspiration. Same with the goal to read more, find friends who have recommendations and talk about the books together. Don’t be afraid to ask around – you could even join a book club or start one of your own.
I find journaling to be helpful! Writing down what you did and consistently updating your progress will make you feel empowered to continue on your journey. It feels good to see a list of books you’ve read or recipes you’ve made at the end of the year. Plus, at the end of it all, you can look back and remember that once upon a time you were struggling just to do six pushups or to cook a German Dumpling Soup. Come 2021, you can see how your hard work and diligence has paid off from sticking with your 2020 resolution! Journaling is also a great stress reliever to just sit down and write about your progress and not worry about other things at the moment.
Good luck with your new year’s resolution!