It may be past Jingle Bell time, but it’s still a swell time!
New Year’s Eve is a chance to reinvent yourself, so what happened to all your resolutions for 2017? Or 2016? 2015? Chances are if you’re anything like the majority of people who swear “THIS YEAR IS GONNA BE MY YEAR”, they went down the drain mid-January.
So if you want 2018 to be your year, here are six ways to slay your New Year’s Resolution.
1. Pick one that matters
The whole “new year resolution” hype makes it really easy to be forced into making a resolution just for the sake of having one, and rather than picking a resolution that’s really important to you, you go with a cliche like “be more positive about life!” that you don’t really end up keeping.
Instead, think of a resolution as an immediate change you want to make in your life that will grant you fulfilment.
Ask yourself, “what’s making me unhappy that I should change?” or “how can I better myself to be the best version of me?” and choose a resolution accordingly. Picking one in the heat of the moment or from feelings of self-doubt and hate will only make it less likely for you to follow through on your resolution.
2. Keep it simple
This may probably come as a no-brainer to you, but selecting a realistic resolution is extremely important to make sure you follow through! It’s really easy to set unrealistic goals for yourself and make sweeping declarations, but doing that will ultimately make it really easy to fail, burn out and freak.
Keeping a resolution simple, like “I’m going to start studying for the SAT one hour every week” is easier to follow through on rather than a resolution like “I’m going to study four hours every day and do all the practice SAT tests there are”. See what I mean?
3. Plan, Plan and Plan!
You know that old saying that goes “failing to plan is planning to fail”? Well, hate to break it to you, but the people that came up with it were right. Without a specific plan to follow your resolution, it’s just a vague wish!
Be as specific as you possibly can- What exactly am I going to do to make sure you achieve your goal? How much time am I going to dedicate to it? How many times a week? What’s my plan for when I mess up?
Doing this will not only force you to think about the working wheels of your resolution, but it will also help you to fit your resolution into your schedule- right between all the Netflix and coffee.
4. Create an accountability system
Friends and family members can nag the crap out of you, and this time, you should actually ask them to. Telling your friends and family about your resolution and plan and asking them to drag your lazy self will compel you to follow through on your goal!
I’m sure there’s a certain amount of nagging even you can’t resist.
5. Track your progress
J-O-U-R-N-A-L! Girl, I get it- you may find journalling to be kind of silly and even useless, but trust me, it works. Most of the time, the lack of immediate results from your long-term goals is likely to leave you unmotivated, but tracking your progress makes the path to success more concrete and achievable. Tracking your day’s work on your resolution will not only keep you motivated but will also make you feel a sense of accomplishment!
6. Prepare to fail
Okay, I realize this sounds counterintuitive, but despite how invincible you may feel with your resolution plan, sometime, somewhere, you will fail.
You need to ditch the all or none mentality here, because otherwise, you may just resort to those “why am I even doing this then” thoughts and boy are those a killer.
Your emotions may take over, you may have a million tests coming up, or the Stranger Things finale may be airing- whatever it is, you are going to have an off day, and that’s okay.
Good Luck, and happy slaying!