Hey there, dear readers! Long time no talk. I imagine you’re all settled into second semester and already counting down the days until Spring Break. I know it can be difficult, but hang in there! Now that January is over, you may be starting to struggle with keeping those resolutions… am I right? The gym just seems so far away in the cold. You thought you weren’t procrastinating but you look up and it’s been 3 hours of watching Netflix and you still have a ton of assignments to do. Read on to discover 5 tips for sticking with your New Year’s Resolutions.
1. Keep it small.
Maybe you started off in January with a big goal of going to the gym 6 days a week. As the end of January crept by, you might have found yourself turning those 6 days into 3 and oops, you suddenly forget what a pushup even is. Having goals and dreams is wonderful, but even goal-oriented experts admit that starting with too large of a goal can be daunting. The best way to shave it down and make it achievable is to make it smaller. Start out by committing to twice a week. When you find yourself getting eager to go to the gym, add another day. You won’t even notice that you’ll be getting into the habit. After a while, you’ll become a total gym babe. The same goes for any other quantitative goal: drinking more liters of water, finishing so many assignments before a due date, etc. Just make sure you start small and go from there!
2. Make One Change at a Time.
In the past, I was absolutely guilty of having waaaaayyy too many projects going on at once. Again, it’s a great idea to have as many goals as possible. But the only way to achieve them is if you focus on one at a time. Suppose you really want to start a new club at school, but you also want to work on your dancing skills to get prepared for a big competition coming up. These are two very involved projects that will take a lot of individual time. Think about your priorities. Which goal requires more immediate attention? Is the competition coming up sooner and you have more time later in the semester to start your plan for the new club? If so, spend more time in the studio perfecting your dance skills and devote about 15 minutes every other night to dreaming up your plan for the club. Don’t spread yourself too thin. Working on one goal at a time is better than working on a million and barely getting anything accomplished.
3. Listen to Motivational Podcasts.
Lately, I’ve been getting into podcasts and it’s been such a blessing. They’re great to listen to on the way to class when you’re not necessarily feeling music but you want something engaging to listen to. One of my favorites is Vibrant Happy Women with Dr. Jen Riday. They discuss motivational techniques for women about how to live, well, a vibrant and happy life! When I have stressful weeks and I need to take a timeout to think about my goals and re-focus, I listen to this podcast. It helps me to orient myself and trust that I’m going in the right direction with my hopes and dreams!
4. Keep a Journal.
Journaling is perhaps the best tool for keeping track of resolutions, goals, and ideas. On the first day of January, I started a page in my bullet journal for my New Year’s Resolutions (check out some cool ideas here for bullet journaling). I look at this page pretty frequently to center myself and focus on the goals I set. It may sound simple, but reminding yourself of your resolutions can be one of the best ways to stick to them and keep track. Decorating a special page in your journal will give you motivation, too!
5. Utilize Your Planner.
My planner doesn’t say “I’m Very Busy” for nothing! I always fill up my time with school work, extracurriculars, and plenty of time with friends. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to workout every day, and I haven’t skipped a single day. Why? Because I write my workouts in my planner with a different color to brighten my day (it’s the little things) so I don’t forget to text my friend and head to the gym. Now I’m in the habit of going at specific times. It helps that I’ve made this a priority in my life. Sometimes I will put an assignment down when I’ve been working really hard and head to the gym for my treat. If you put your goals in your planner and make time for them, it will feel like you’re rewarding yourself when the time comes to put those goals to work!
I hope these 5 tips were helpful for planning out how you’re going to totally ATTACK those New Year’s Resolutions! You’ve got this! XOXO
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