How to keep your New Year’s resolutions

PHOTO: A survey done in 2018 found that around 60 percent of participants made New Year’s resolutions, but only 8 percent were successful in achieving them.

By Renee Xiang,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

It’s happened time and time again: you start out the year with a tall order of resolutions and an iron will, but by mid-February, you’ve already begun to fall into a slump. 

Nonetheless, hindsight is 20/20 (fitting given the year we’re heading into), so it’s important to acknowledge the obstacles to your success which you have faced in the past and consider how you can overcome them this coming new year. 

Be realistic, start small.

Like many, sophomore Pratheeka Budamagunta considers the new year as a chance to improve upon her old habits from last year. 

“A new year is like a new start […] I just like to think about things I can change for the new year every year,” she said. 

However, even though the newfound enthusiasm can be exciting, it’s important not to get ahead of yourself. Everyone has big aspirations, but forcing yourself to do too much with too little time can be a recipe for failure. The best way to make sure your resolutions stick is to set them within your reach. 

Start by making small changes to your daily routines, then gradually work your way up to your ultimate goal. For example, if your resolution is to stop procrastinating, make a habit of doing at least half an hour of work after coming home from school everyday. Eventually, you can increase this threshold to one hour, then two, until you’re finally able to finish all your work before watching that Netflix drama or scrolling through Instagram for hours on end.

Starting small can lead to major payoff, and you benefit by establishing consistency along the way. The satisfaction of being able to knock down these smaller goals can also provide you with the motivation you need to keep going, instead of feeling overwhelmed by the weight of a larger goal.

Have an endpoint in mind. 

After you’ve lowered the bar for yourself, it’s important to figure out where you eventually want to end up. This means establishing an ultimate objective, or a point of fulfillment.

James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, explains the reasoning behind this in his online article “Goal Setting: A Scientific Guide to Setting and Achieving Goals.”

“In many areas of life, there is a magical zone of long-term growth,” Clear writes. “You want to push hard enough to make progress, but not so much that it is unsustainable. This is where setting an upper limit can be useful. Upper limits make it easier for you to sustain your progress and continue showing up.”

Knowing your boundaries determines how long you stay motivated, and how long you stay motivated determines the durability of your resolution. According to Clear, setting an upper bound for yourself can lead you straight to the middle ground between effortlessness and burnout, making for a lasting period of improvement and more permanent results.

Get support from those around you.

Proclaiming your hopes and aspirations out loud to your friends and family seems rather intimidating, especially if they are personal matters. However, having an outside source of encouragement can be vital to keeping up with your resolutions, especially when you’re at a low point in terms of self-motivation. 

Telling even just one close friend about what you’re working towards provides you with a safety net in case your own determination fails you. Confide in someone you trust will give you a reality check when you need one, someone who will back your efforts and help you reach your goal. 

A study conducted by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) concluded that you have a 65 percent chance of completing your goal if you commit to someone. When you make your goals known to people in your life, you are holding yourself accountable to them. Doing so can establish an external factor of motivation, which may just be the extra push you need towards attaining a goal. 

Know how to deal with setbacks. 

Inconveniences are inevitable. If you have made resolutions going into the new year, it is necessary to know that no plan goes without a hitch, and that you will face complications.

That much being said, it is how you react to these setbacks that will control the achievability of your plan. As easy as it may be to give up in the face of failure, coming to terms with your mistakes and moving on is key.

Make sure not to tread on your imperfections for too long, and recognize that the end goal is positive growth.

“I’d say the most important thing [is] to be forgiving with yourself, and take small steps,” Budamagunta said. “Don’t expect everything to change overnight. Changing and improving yourself is a process that takes time.”