New Year’s Eve has come and gone, closely followed by the rise and fall of expectations. “I’m going to work out more” or “I want to write a novel”. While these goals are admirable, they can oftentimes seem trite due to the effort we put towards them. Some of us may still be working towards our resolutions, while the vast majority of the population has already given up (or didn’t even try). Why do we feel the need to change? And more importantly, why do we only feel we can start to change during the start of a new year? Certain habits can help you with your resolutions, whether you started them last week or today.
Time Management:
According to Business Insider, 80% of New Years’ Resolutions fail by February. The main reason seems to be the scope of the goals invested. Instead of having broad ideas of improvement, start small. Think of little things you can do, like using timers to be more productive, to help you reach your main goals. “All these little improvements will add up and help you achieve your goal in time-manageable chunks.
Be Realistic.
You’re unlikely to transform overnight from a couch potato to ultra- marathoner, so the goal is to start small. Ambitious goals can be fun, but the letdown from not achieving those goals is disheartening, and can make it harder for you to set goals in the future. Forbes.com says that “goals should be bounded by rational, achievable metrics” in order to ensure fruition. “Running More” is an example of a broad goal that you can split up into smaller goals like working out on certain days and following a training plan. Clear goals help us gain a new mindset through daily to-do lists and steps to our goals.
Don’t Wait.
Maybe your goal failed, or maybe you never really started. The important thing with goal setting is to not let failure get in your way. Even if our goals may not have happened in the past, doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to improve! We don’t need to reinvent ourselves every year- all we need to do is make changes. And we can make these changes whenever we put our mind to it. Positive reinforcement is key to building happy and healthy lifelong habits. Start a daily routine today, and try something new. You never know what you could learn.
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