5 Tips on How to Make Realistic New Year’s Resolutions
There's nothing more exciting than a new year.
We all get a fresh start. We can embrace our collective opportunity to start again and nothing signifies this more than New Year's resolutions. Setting New Year's resolutions is exciting for some people and annoying for others. It's fun to create new goals and imagine a better future, but it's frustrating when you can't commit to them.
It's normal to blame yourself for not sticking to your goals, but you are not the problem. Your goals and how you plan them are where you're going wrong. We often create too many goals and don't give ourselves enough time to complete them. Well, 2021 is the year that you're reaching all your goals! Here are five steps you can take to make sure you stick to your new year's resolutions.
Breakdown Small Goals into Smaller Goals
It's great to dream big, but it can seem impossible to reach ambitious goals. You are more likely to achieve your resolutions if you break them down into smaller realistic goals. This will help you make progress towards your goals and keep you motivated. For example, if your goal is to start writing music, the first step could be buying a journal to write the lyrics or find a music teacher. Break down larger objectives into at least five steps. This may seem tedious, but every step of the journey helps you progress toward your goal. Before you know it, we'll be interviewing you on your latest viral hit!
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Separate Your Goals into Categories
Some people find it helpful to separate their goals into different categories to better track their progress. Separate your resolutions into different categories, such as health, passions, social life, school or any other area of interest in your life. During the year, you can see how you're doing across the different categories, which will make it easier to know if you need to focus on one area more than the other. It also helps breakdown your long resolution list into specific sections making it more manageable.
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Choose a Realistic Timeline
Let's be real—you're not going to learn to play the guitar or easily run five miles overnight. We discourage ourselves when we set goals in an unrealistic timeline because we become frustrated when we think we're not progressing fast enough. Instead of reaching the goal as quickly as possible, ask yourself, "What is the most realistic timeline?" Give yourself enough time and learn to enjoy the process instead of rushing to the finish line. You'll be less likely to give up and more likely to stick it out. Don't hesitate to give yourself more time if you realize you're falling behind schedule. It doesn't matter how fast you go, as long as you keep moving forward.
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Don't Overwhelm Yourself
Setting New Year's resolutions can be really exciting and motivating, so, naturally, you might make a lot of goals for yourself. However, if you make too many goals, it might become overwhelming. Only you know how many goals you can achieve because we all have different lives and schedules. If you know that you can make 100 goals and stick to them, that's great. It's good for most people to start with a more manageable five to 10 goals. You won't spread yourself too thin. You'll be able to focus the energy and time to achieve them.
Remind Yourself You Can Always Start Again if You Slip Up
The all-or-nothing mindset with New Year's resolutions is not helpful. Making mistakes or forgetting to keep our resolutions for a few days are the reasons why so many of us abandon our resolutions. The good news is that you don't have to give up if you slip up. You can start over the next day. You can even start over the next minute. New Year's is a great symbolic time to welcome new energy, but it's not the only day you can start over. If you make a mistake, pick yourself back up and try again.
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