The end of 2018 is approaching quickly! And with that, comes a slew of resolutions that have a small chance of lasting until February.
Last year, I managed to keep up with most of my resolutions, but not all of them lasted long. I have recently realised that I made each resolution for a reason. While they can be hard to follow through on, I made them to make help make myself the best version of me I can be.
So this year, I am determined to keep up on these resolutions I have set for the new year. For 2019, I have set four goals that I want to focus on:
Making these resolutions is the easy part. The hard part is implementing them, or at least so you would think.
While it looks like I threw together a list of things that I want, I actually put a lot of thought into this. Here is my step by step process of creating my new year goals:
Step one: Think about the reasons why you want to achieve this goal
Now, I don’t mean just a reason like, ‘I want to be healthy’ or ‘I just want to’. I mean really think about why this is something you need to do, what parts of your life will benefit from doing so. In other words, it’s important to think about why you want to achieve a goal, not just that you want to achieve it.
For instance, even though, ‘read more’ sounds like a very vague goal. I want to read more because reading is a skill that can be built up. Studies have shown that the more often you read, the quicker you become at reading and understanding texts. As an aspiring law student, I know that my work load will contain mass amounts of reading. I want to read more so that I can keep my brain sharp during this gap year in order to have a smooth start at law school.
Before finalising a goal, I went through for each one of these and created a ‘why’ behind each goal. Conceptualising why I need to do something or achieve these resolutions has already motivated me to start taking productive steps towards keeping them.
Step Two: Make an action plan
The second thing I did after conceptualising my goal, was to start making an achievable action plan. When I read tips on how to keep new years resolutions, people all say the same thing: make your goal something achievable.
While there is some truth to this word of advice, I think that it’s not the goal itself that isn’t achievable, it’s lacking an action plan that allows you to achieve it.
For instance, last year one of my goals was to work out more. Well I think a huge reason why I failed at maintaining this goal, was I didn’t set an achievable action plan and I didn’t know where to start.
This year, I made action plans for each goal, and for some of them, I have already started making strides!
One reason I am not drinking enough water is I don’t have a water bottle. I know, who doesn’t own a water bottle!? But this situation has been rectified and my water bottle (which is super cute by the way) is in the mail. Really is there any excuse not to drink water now?
With these steps, it will seem like a breeze to set manageable new years resolutions! Even if you do slip up every once in a while, don’t give up! It’s never a bad time to start good habits.
“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.
Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.
So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.Neil Gaiman
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
From me to you,
Awesome goals! And they definitely seem doable! That’s the biggest problem people have with making new year goals…. they go ALL IN and try to squeeze in 5 years worth of goals into 1. Start small and progress is my motto! XO
I love that motto! Starting small is always easier than biting off more than you can chew 🙂
Thank you! What a great motto, never bite off more than you can chew ❤️
I do make goals and things I want to get accomplished during the year. Good for you keep and learning how to keep your resolutions.
Thank you! Happy new year 🙂
You are so right with creating an action plan. I always say I wanna do things but hen never follow up. Thank you for reminding me about the action part. I’m looking to work on a second language too. Good luck!!
Thank you! I wish you luck on your new year resolutions too!
Love that Neil Gaiman quote – it’s so true. And I like that you have actionable steps for your resolutions. I do think that’s the biggest thing. I want to work out more, but for 2019 that means keep going to my two dance classes and go out and walk more while listening to podcasts, so it’s mixing one thing I want to do more with a physical activity that i need to do more of!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Thank you! That’s a great way to sneak in a work out, I do better when I am not thinking about the fact that I am working out, so that’s an awesome idea!
Having a clear WHY is so important – I agree! Do you have a place to keep track of your goal on? Have you tried a bullet journal? Good luck with your goals!
Having a definite WHY for your goals is so important – I agree! How will you keep track of your goals met? Have you tried a bullet journal? Good luck with reaching your goals!
Thank you! And in my planner I have a section dedicated to goal check ins. So each month I check in with myself to see my progress 🙂
The goals are lovely. And if you want you can achieve it. All the best.
Thank you! ❤️
Surprisingly, I haven’t made any NY resolutions this year. They typically involve losing weight, but I am pregnant so there won’t be any weight losing for me for a while. I so agree with your sitting down to figure out your why though. In 2011, I set out to not drink soft drinks for the year 2012. It’s the only resolution I ever kept. In fact, I haven’t had one since NYE 2011, but I was able to accomplish it because I started breaking that resolution into more bite size pieces like daily resolutions, then weekly, and then monthly. The longer I could go without one, the easier it became to make it into a longer resolution. Now it has been nearly 7 years, and I can’t imagine adding them back in. I accidentally took a swig of my hubby’s coke the other day, and I gagged and spit it out.
Sorry for this long book. 🙂
Wow congrats! That’s amazing that you were able to keep up with your goal ❤️
Learning a language is such a fun goal!! Happy New Year and good luck on your resolutions!