New Years Apprehension

Over the recent years it’s become increasingly common for people to let go of the ever-popular tradition of New Years Resolutions-understandably so as the completion rates of Resolutions are often rare, and appear repetitive year after year. To even further the idea that Resolutions are arguably becoming obsolete, Forbes released an article addressing this in 2018. Written by Ashira Prossack, she goes to state that the statistics for completion of resolutions (as previously stated), are incredibly low-coming at 8% of the people actual reaching their goals. And of course, with dismal statistics such as this, one obviously may find themselves running with the crowd of “What’s the point”-in comes the solution however.

Instead of resolutions, we should try goals. Prossack goes on to cite Michael Johnston, reporting that he suggest “three of four goals to work on so you’re not overwhelmed by them”. Other advice given in the article is to pace yourself, and find a way to achieve consistency.

Even with this information, and this advice, it still leaves one wondering-how am I supposed to complete these goals, and make certain that they’re completed?

One may argue that this makes sense, as you would promise to stop doing something cold turkey-and losing 10 lbs isn’t stoping something completely. The argument may also stand that goals provides a certain encouragement, something worth working towards that gives you motivation to do things you might not otherwise do.

Even still we can guarantee that nothing is certain, and your plans aren’t always going to go your way-but I do have a few choice pieces of advice on how to complete your New Years Goals.

1. Start with a piece of paper. Sit down a pen and paper-you make recognize this as apart of the new years resolution process-it is. By sitting down and organizing your thoughts for the new year, you’re able to recognize what areas of your life need to be addressed-and what aspirations you may have. On that note…
   • Start with breaking down the varying areas of your life. Education, Health, Finances, Career, Education, Hobbies, School, etc. Then break those into subcategories-hey, nobody said your goals list had to be small.
   • Consider where you are in each area of your life-are you happy, could they use improvement-how can you go about improving them. Looking for a more sustainable career in the long run, but not sure if you’re into obtaining a degree? Consider looking into certifications that don’t require a degree. Wanting to improve your grades at school? How can you do this? Work out a study plan, perhaps?
   • On notes of writing out ways to work toward your goals-dont make them vague and argaubly unachievable. Have a plan, and make it something that you’ll have a hard time getting out of. If your goal is to “do better at eating healthy”, you’re less likely to achieve that goal, and will end up dissapointing yourself.
   • You’ve written your list, you have your goals, now, how to follow this up.
2. Organize your goals. Make another list, put it in an order that will draw your attention to each individual goal-they all matter.
3. Set deadlines for each goal. If you’re worried about procrastination becoming a close companion during this time, a deadline is heavily suggested, to keep everything spread out easily, and to avoid feeling overwhelmed or forced to do it all at once.
4. Hang the list where you can view it-maybe there’s a spot in your room you can hang the list-and if not keep a journal with them-one that’s easily at your fingertips and will be there as a reminder.
5. Have a reason for your goals-and consider an inspiration board. By having an inspiration board as a reminder for these goals, it will help keep you motivated to achieve them-thus furthering the possiblities of achieving the goals.

After the year that 2020 was, and the year that 2021 is shaping up to be, it’s no wonder people are weary of the idea of New Years Resolutions-but just because things get rough, doesn’t mean we should avoid goals. Whether they appear simple such as making it through the next year, or as complex as a lifestyle change, all goals matter, and should inevitably, work to affect our life in a positive way-in the New Year and months down the road.