New Year's Resolutions
Hello, Reader!
Twenty-nineteen is finally here, along with my first blog post! I hope you’re just as excited as I am for the new year. Any day is good to begin developing a new positive habit or commit to a goal, but there’s something so satisfying about New Year’s Resolutions and yearly goals; the feeling of “this will be my year” and “this year will be different.”
Unfortunately, that feeling seems to fade as quickly as it appears - it’s a week into January, you’re up at 2am again, browsing memes on Instagram with no recollection of those resolutions you’ve sworn you’ll actually keep to this year. Don’t you worry - I’m here to spill the secrets to creating yearly goals you’ll want to stick to.
You don’t have to agree with me, but I am *convinced* that the word ‘resolutions’ is cursed. Any goal that you name a resolution will be forgotten before January finishes. In fact, I’ve got stats: according to U.S. News, 80% of NY Resolutions fail by February, while University of Scranton research indicates that only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s Resolutions. Either way, the huge majority of them flop.
Why? When we set ourselves these ‘resolutions’ we expect our lives to change overnight. We suddenly want to have a healthy lifestyle, responsible spending habits, more time with our family. Even when we are willing to put in the work and dedicate time and effort for these goals, they are in constant competition with your other priorities. Dan Diamond explains it better, I’m just here to share my (completely non-scientific) tips to lasting ‘resolutions.’
If you have a lot of dreams and hopes for this year, and you don’t mind if you don’t meet all of them, try a bucket list! It will allow you to keep your resolutions informal and casual, while still reminding you of what you’re striving for or focusing on this year. Its advantage? It can be as bold and ambitious as you want it to be because it doesn’t matter if you’ll complete it this year as long as you get a little closer to it.
My list of goals is a bit different than a bucket list - and I recommend this style for anyone who is busy and knows exactly what they want and how to get it. Creating a list of yearly goals was more suitable for me because I know that I definitely want to meet them all by the end of 2019. If that’s more your style, choose goals that are attainable and measurable. Decide exactly what you want - the more specific the better. For example, I know that I want to focus more on my art, but if I wrote “focus on art” I won't know when I have reached it and therefore I won’t be motivated to reach it. Instead, I wrote “create 12 paintings,” which is specific enough for me to know exactly when I’ve reached the goal, but also general enough so that it doesn’t limit my artistic growth, whether it is exploring different media or subjects. Another important thing when creating specific goals is to think forward to what your year will look like and how do these goals fit into it; I’m going abroad for a couple of months and then moving out for University so it wouldn’t make sense for me to, for example, redecorate my room at home. On the other hand, moving out will require me to learn new skills, such as cooking, which would be reasonable to add to my list.
However you plan your year, try to include something that helps you develop as a person, for yourself. Let me know how you plan out your ‘resolutions’ and whether you have any secrets for making them last!
Check back next week for my own Yearly Goals :^)
Good luck and happy New Year!
Love, Agnes xo
Twenty-nineteen is finally here, along with my first blog post! I hope you’re just as excited as I am for the new year. Any day is good to begin developing a new positive habit or commit to a goal, but there’s something so satisfying about New Year’s Resolutions and yearly goals; the feeling of “this will be my year” and “this year will be different.”
Unfortunately, that feeling seems to fade as quickly as it appears - it’s a week into January, you’re up at 2am again, browsing memes on Instagram with no recollection of those resolutions you’ve sworn you’ll actually keep to this year. Don’t you worry - I’m here to spill the secrets to creating yearly goals you’ll want to stick to.
You don’t have to agree with me, but I am *convinced* that the word ‘resolutions’ is cursed. Any goal that you name a resolution will be forgotten before January finishes. In fact, I’ve got stats: according to U.S. News, 80% of NY Resolutions fail by February, while University of Scranton research indicates that only 8% of people achieve their New Year’s Resolutions. Either way, the huge majority of them flop.
Why? When we set ourselves these ‘resolutions’ we expect our lives to change overnight. We suddenly want to have a healthy lifestyle, responsible spending habits, more time with our family. Even when we are willing to put in the work and dedicate time and effort for these goals, they are in constant competition with your other priorities. Dan Diamond explains it better, I’m just here to share my (completely non-scientific) tips to lasting ‘resolutions.’
If you have a lot of dreams and hopes for this year, and you don’t mind if you don’t meet all of them, try a bucket list! It will allow you to keep your resolutions informal and casual, while still reminding you of what you’re striving for or focusing on this year. Its advantage? It can be as bold and ambitious as you want it to be because it doesn’t matter if you’ll complete it this year as long as you get a little closer to it.
My list of goals is a bit different than a bucket list - and I recommend this style for anyone who is busy and knows exactly what they want and how to get it. Creating a list of yearly goals was more suitable for me because I know that I definitely want to meet them all by the end of 2019. If that’s more your style, choose goals that are attainable and measurable. Decide exactly what you want - the more specific the better. For example, I know that I want to focus more on my art, but if I wrote “focus on art” I won't know when I have reached it and therefore I won’t be motivated to reach it. Instead, I wrote “create 12 paintings,” which is specific enough for me to know exactly when I’ve reached the goal, but also general enough so that it doesn’t limit my artistic growth, whether it is exploring different media or subjects. Another important thing when creating specific goals is to think forward to what your year will look like and how do these goals fit into it; I’m going abroad for a couple of months and then moving out for University so it wouldn’t make sense for me to, for example, redecorate my room at home. On the other hand, moving out will require me to learn new skills, such as cooking, which would be reasonable to add to my list.
However you plan your year, try to include something that helps you develop as a person, for yourself. Let me know how you plan out your ‘resolutions’ and whether you have any secrets for making them last!
Check back next week for my own Yearly Goals :^)
Good luck and happy New Year!
Love, Agnes xo
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