Happy 2018! I am not much for celebrating a new year but it does make me feel a little older each one that goes by. I graduated from high school 18 years ago and moving on 20. Feels like so long ago that I can’t even really remember it anymore. With each new year, there are many people that make a new years resolution. Lots others that do not. I like resolutions that make sense and are practical and attainable. I have made one some years and other years I have not. Here are some of my tips for making a resolution that you can keep.
Attainable-
You must choose a resolution that you can directly have some success at achieving. Ending world hunger is not an attainable resolution but volunteering so many hours a month at a food line or at the food shelf is and would help many people around you. Your resolution must have a goal that you want to accomplish but a result that is within your grasp. That way it does not feel like an overwhelming task. I like to keep it simple when I make one. Last year I made a resolution to quit biting my fingernails. I lasted for nearly 6 months. It was an attainable goal, I just failed when I quit thinking about it for a brief moment and I was back to chewing them without thinking about it.
Practical-
I am a firm believer that it has to be practical. Like the aforementioned ending world hunger, your resolution must be something that makes sense in your life. It must be something that would directly have an impact on you or others. Like spending more time with your family, making trips to see your parents, spending a certain amount of time exercising each day/week etc.
Impactful-
This is, to me, the most important part of any resolution. It must have an impact on your life in some way shape or form. By either saving money, losing weight, having better habits, relieving stress, or many more of the like. This part of it is the reason you will still be pushing to achieve your resolution come June and so on. You must feel like if you achieve your goal, your success will be a very satisfying result for whatever reason you chose your resolution. It would be like having a resolution to exercise at least three days of the week and the result would be that you would buy yourself a new dress, or run a 5k/10k/half marathon, fit into the jeans you bought last year, go outside and play with your kids more often because you have the energy too and the like.
Reward-
For some, the reward of accomplishing your goal will be enough to keep motivated. For others, you may need to attach an award for yourself/spouse/family. If you achieve your goal, you are going to take the family and go stay at a water park for a weekend. Or you are going to take a trip with some friends in a direction you haven’t traveled before. Or buy a new car with the money you have saved from quitting a bad habit or whatever makes you want to create and stick to the resolution you chose.
If your resolution is practical, attainable, impactful, and has some type of extrinsic or intrinsic reward, then I believe you will have a great chance of being able to achieve it and will enjoy making it possible. Good luck to those that made a resolution and I hope you can achieve it. Till next time, enjoy this heat wave that we are having. It is the first day above zero in the last 4 days.
