New Years resolutions have always rubbed me the wrong way. I have nothing wrong with people wanting to become better versions of themselves, but with the new year comes a stigma of people inevitably giving up on their resolutions come February. In fact, I often look forward to February because that’s when the gym clears up and I can finally do late workouts without waiting ten minutes to do a certain set of weights.
But all that aside… I’ve found a life hack to successfully never giving up on your goals when you get too busy or too lazy. I feel here, the trick is to develop and entertain a certain mindset rather than a goal. A goal for new years just seems so flexible with flimsy foundation nowadays. To avoid this, I decided that I’m every New Year, I’m going to try and adopt a new sort of mindset.
Yep! That’s it. A mindset. In a way, these “goals” one would have would be easier to achieve with a different way at approaching problems. For example, last year I vowed to be more “understanding.” I know it’s a weird one, but being more understanding let me see things from other perspectives. With this, I was able to balance friends easier, becoming a better boyfriend, a better son, and a better person! But that’s old news.
Just. Do. It. I don’t mean to be ripping off Nike here, but I couldn’t really think of a better phrase while 2018 ticked in. This type of mindset could theoretically be the same as “don’t procrastinate,” etc, but I feel like this one phrase is so much more. Instead of looking at something thinking, “I’ll do it after,” I do it then and there.
I’d suggest starting with the smaller things. If you finish dinner and put the only dirty plate in the empty sink, just clean it. It’ll take two seconds. Before you leave in the morning, pull the sheets over your bed and spray it with Fabreeze. Need to go grocery shopping? Just do it. If you start to get these smaller tasks out of the way, the medium-sized ones and eventually the bigger ones will be no problem at all. It does take a while to get into this habit, though. Expect to fail a little bit, or be lazy enough to ditch the mindset once. The most important thing is that you’re consistent and get right back up when you get into the lazy cycle. After a while, having these healthy habits and mentalities will seem natural. Not only will it make you feel productive, but you also won’t have that constant thought of “I should do that soon” looming over your head. Schoolwork, going to the gym and cooking hearty dinner are some of the tasks that can follow after a month of doing this.
There you have it! My own personal take at new year mindsets. Become what you think!