How does one follow through with keeping a New Year’s resolution? At the beginning of each January, students come up with ideas to make better grades, find that special someone, lose some weight or maybe even land a prestigious internship with Disney.
Resolutions tend to start out strong, but as the months go by, the motivation to keep them up fizzles out. During winter break, some students work and are not taking classes, so they have more free on their hands to imagine what they will accomplish in the coming year.
Students can all learn to think outside the box and get creative when it comes to New Year’s resolutions by trying out different methods. The key to it all is finding and sticking with the one that fits in perfectly.
A way to follow up on your New Year’s resolutions is to pick one word to live by for the year, such as one from the website myoneword.org. After choosing a word, type it up in large colored font and print it out.
Physically being able to touch the sheet of paper and seeing it will breathe more life into actual goals and dreams than simply speaking about them. It is important for the word to be visible at all times, so the paper can be taped on a fridge or on a wall above a desk where homework is done.
This type of method will work well for someone who is a visual person, and for those individuals who do not remember everything spoken.
A more detailed way to keep resolutions can be journaling. Writing down things in a journal every day or every week will bring some accountability because everything is dated and can be looked back at later on.
In addition to being held accountable, journaling is also a good way to advance writing skills, similar to how giving speeches repeatedly can improve speaking skills. Plus, keeping a journal is a good stress reliever because it is a secret place to calm down and write about people in life who cause headache.
Another technique that can be used is a system of rewards for each new achievement toward the goal. For example, one piece of candy or a cookie for each hour studied in preparation for an exam.
Eating sweets may not be the best option for those who are trying to lose weight, so vegetables and fruits like a celery stick or an apple slice can be substituted. Also, there can be nonedible rewards such as checking social media or watching a video after all homework is completed.
There will be trying times when it almost seems like it is best to give up the resolutions and give in to defeat, but hopefully the various methods explained above will help to follow through with New Year’s resolutions. This year will be the year of actually getting things down.
By BENJAMIN LAW
Staff writer
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