It is officially the end of a decade! That’s right ladies, 2020 is here, and with a new decade comes a new way of writing your resolutions. Take inventory of the last decade and evaluate each of the resolutions you’ve made. Have any of your resolutions become a lifestyle? Are there some that you try to commit to year after year but it’s just not working out? In 2020, let’s make it a priority to finish what we started! No longer are we going to be captured by old patterns, here are 5 ways you can turn your resolutions into routines!
1. Make them visable
It can be very easy to forget about your resolutions when they are stuffed in a notebook. Sometimes just writing New Year’s resolutions down and committing them to memory works for people, and other times it does not. With that said, if you’re one of those people who need a constant reminder to stay devoted, making them visible may be a better choice. Instead of just writing them down in a notebook, put your resolutions in a place you will see them every day! My key trick is to write them on a piece of paper and frame it! You can also make your list on a poster board or create a vision board just for your resolutions! This way it is a constant reminder to follow through with your goals, and make them a priority. Making them visible can also help you work your resolutions back into your everyday schedule.
2. Ask someone to hold you accountable
Accountability is a key factor in any sort of commitment. It is important to grab a trusted friend or family member who will keep you on top of you fulfilling your goals. You want to choose someone who is going to give you the right level of motivation and encouragement. It may also help to see if your resolutions line up with each other! For example, if both of your goals are to become physically fit, meal prep together or start making plans to go to the gym with each other. It will make it a lot more fun when you have someone there to have a laugh with, and you’re both achieving your goals!
3. Setbacks make room for comebacks
Don’t become discouraged if you fall behind on your goals! College can be stressful, and the demands of our education can get in the way. However, this does not mean you should give up completely, just rework them! If you planned to read one book each month, and you see that you are falling behind, readjust your schedule. You will feel much better about reading a few books by the end of the year, rather than not reading any. When in doubt do not abandon your goals, rework them!
4. Create meaningful resolutions
It is so important to base your resolutions around your morals and values. When a goal is close to your heart, your drive, and passion to complete it is intensified. Simply following the resolutions of your friends or your favorite celebrity is not going to do anything for you if they have no personal value to your life. In order to effectively make your resolutions into routines, they need to be specific to your lifestyle. Try thinking about what habits have been holding you back, or specific things about yourself that you want to improve! Your resolutions are about you, so do not be discouraged by how predictable or impossible it might sound to complete them! Having a connection to your resolutions is one of the key pieces of activation in order to make a routine out of them.
5. Get up and start!
Now that you’ve taken the time to write out your resolutions, it’s time to put them into action! Of course, the first step of writing them out is important, but you are going to accomplish very little if you stay there. It’s a new year, and I know it to be hard to shed years of embedded patterns, but this is where the best satisfaction comes from. 2020 is the year to put our words into action! No more will we write out our resolutions and forget about them, let’s get up and start!