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A New Year's resolution involves promising yourself that you will change some aspect of your life in the new year. The idea of it is simple: new year, fresh start. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't follow through with their resolutions for the new year. In this article, I hope to inspire you to create your own resolutions and teach you how to follow through with them.
The most important skill to have when it comes to resolutions is goal-setting. Realize that a good goal involves steps that are attainable and specific. Below I will list some common New Year's resolutions with a list of specific steps on how to attain them. These lists can easily be modified to your own personal resolutions:
1. Exercise more:
This goal is probably the most common. Everyone knows how important and beneficial daily exercise it, yet we all seem to conveniently skip it everyday. The best way to approach this goal is to first find what kind of exercise you enjoy. Let's be serious - running, for example, may be one of the best types of exercise out there, but many people find running to be a chore. Some people may enjoy dancing, yoga, or martial arts to name a few. Make a list of everything active that you enjoy doing and work with that. Then, create a weekly plan. Aim for a specific amount of exercise each day (i.e. 30 minutes). Then, fit in your activities for each day (i.e. Monday - 15 minutes of dancing, 15 minutes of running; Tuesday - 10 minutes of yoga, 20 minutes of karate; etc.) Make sure you change it up everyday to keep it interesting! Create a specific time each day (i.e. 8:30AM) for your exercising and make sure that time is always devoted to exercise. Every time you successfully complete your daily exercise goal, put a check mark on your calendar and aim to have your calendar filled up with check marks before 2015!
2. Study harder:
This resolution is a really good one if you want your grades to improve, which is really important when it comes to applying for college. How often have you told yourself that a new semester meant that you were going to study hard and procrastinate less? And how many times did that work for you? Unfortunately, we aren't always as motivated as we hope to be. The first step to approaching this goal is to keep a daily planner that you can write down all assignments in. Write down on each day what you hope to accomplish. Make sure you break down major assignments into smaller categories so that you do a bit daily. For example, if you have an essay to write, devote one day to writing the introduction, one day to writing the first paragraph, etc. That way, the task doesn't seem so big and you won't have the stress of leaving it to the very last minute. The same strategy can be applied to tests and exams: Devote one day to studying one topic. In the end, do a review of all things. You should also be sure to review all the material from the day before you go to bed by quickly skimming over your notes. When you sleep is when your brain encodes your memories from the day, so it should stick with you better if it's the last thing you do before you sleep.
3. Learn something new:
Many people have always wanted to learn to play a certain instrument, a new sport, a new skill, etc. However, they never really got around to it because it's so easy to procrastinate these things. Well, consider this year your year! The best way to learn something new is simply to start learning. Make sure you have a set amount of time to practice a new skill each week. For example, if you wanted to learn to play violin, devoting 30 minutes of practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays would be a good way to start. You can fit this into your own personal schedule. Also, have a family member or a friend follow your progress. If you're trying to learn the violin, tell your parents that you will play a new song for them every month so that they can see how you improve. That way, someone will be watching you progress and you will feel a bit more motivated to practice more often. Make sure you're flexible with your timing for this as school should always come first.
Those are just three of the most common resolutions that I've heard of. Your own personal resolution is up to you to decide. Whatever it is that you choose, I hope that you are able to use some of these tips to keep it and achieve it!
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