Now that Christmas has passed, our collective consciousnesses are looking forward to 2016. New Year’s Eve brings in a lot of questions: Stay home or go out? Celebrate with family, friends, or both? If you are going out, where? Travel or no travel? Which hot guy am I planting a kiss on at midnight?
However, not all the planning has to do with the night before. Some of us still make New Year’s resolutions, and now is the week to pin them down. However, within a couple months of the ball dropping, most of us will have broken our resolutions, and the year continues in the same fashion of all the previous ones. So why do we break our resolutions when it’s obviously something we would like to see change in our lives? The answer is simple: Too big or too broad.
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I find that broken resolutions are more like dreams with no plan of action backing them up. So with that in mind, here are a few of the most common resolutions we make according to Time magazine and my (better) alternatives to make them easier to keep.
Common Resolution: Get Out of Debt and Save Money
My Better Alternative: Save X amount per week / pay X amount on your debt per week.
Saving money is actually one of my resolutions this year, so I’ll start there. Saving money sounds so nice. Can you imagine having a spare couple thousand just sitting in a savings account waiting for whatever adventure you deem worthy to spend it on? Or maybe you’re looking even further ahead and starting a retirement egg (awesome; the sooner you start, the better of you’ll be). Or maybe you just don’t want to be stranded when you old white Neon “Nancy” takes her inevitable last breath. No matter what you save it for, there really is no downside to having a little breathing room in your finances.
So why do we fail at this resolution? Simple: no solid plan. “Get out of debt” and “save money” are such vague ideas. How much money do you want to save? When specifically do you want to realistically have your debt paid off? The specifics need to be nailed down for this to work. I suggest a small, doable weekly goal. I mean, even $10 a week would tally up to $520 in a year, and not something you would really miss. This kind of resolution makes keeping your promise to yourself easy and painless, not to mention you get to pat yourself on the back for a job well done each week you drop a little money into your savings (or onto your Stetson debt pile, since we all have them).
Common Resolution: Lose Weight and Get Fit
My Better Alternative: Lose one to two pounds per week / Increase cardio by one minute per week / Etc.
This one is probably the most common resolutions that I hear floating around. Gyms are notoriously more crowded in January (and just as notoriously dead in February). I honestly believe this resolution suffers from people’s “Go Big or Go Home” mindset on fitness. You imagine yourself running marathons or looking like a Victoria's Secret model by February, but then, between grasping for air and sweating a river, you realize that you can’t run a mile. Suddenly that marathon goal seems out of reach, so why bother?
Well, with that mindset, it’s no wonder most people forgo their gym resolutions within the month. My solution is simple: be realistic. Sure, have a long term goal in mind, but a fitness goal needs to be broken down into a series of smaller goals to keep you going. Even a 10 minute walk every other day has the potential to safeguard your bone health. Every little step counts, every pound counts, and every minute counts. The best part about starting from the bottom is that you can only improve. Be kind to yourself and start small. Your December 2016 self will thank you for it.
Common Resolution: Eat Healthier
My Better Alternative: Make Healthier Choices More Often
Ah, another vague, completely-change-your-life-in-a week-resolution that is impossible to keep. What do you even mean by “eat healthier?” Are you eating to perform, to lose weight, or do you just want to quit hitting up Taco Bell at 3 a.m. every other night? This can mean so many things, and it probably does to every single person that claims this resolution.
So, again, be specific. What does this mean to you? Next, lay out a plan that gradually gets you to where you want to be. The most common recommendation I have come across concerning a diet overhaul is to make one or two small changes per few weeks to make it stick. For example, instead of cutting out all processed food, pick something specific, like cereal bars, and aim to replace them with a fresh fruit snack instead. Another tip is to make your diet decisions conscious instead of subconscious. Each decision on what to eat is a chance to have a mini-victory. Instead of a Venti, order a Tall. Limit pizza dinners to once a week. Have a salad instead of a cheeseburger (sometimes.) All of those little decisions add up over time. And remember, people who succeed at this resolution find a way to avoid feeling deprived, so don’t forget to cheat occasionally!
New Year’s resolutions are the butt of so many jokes, but frankly, I think those people are just really scared that they too would fail on their resolutions if they made them. Although using the New Year as a reason to change may seem trite to some, so what? Who cares what lit the fire if in the you end up happier about your life?
Although I only covered three resolutions, the general idea can be applied to anything. Small changes, specific plans, and weekly goals can mean the difference between a “pie in the sky” dream and a resolution accomplished. So, if there is something you truly want to change in your life, go for it! Tell everyone, get excited, and take some time to actually write down how you will realistically accomplish your goal. And when you get discouraged (and you will at some point), just visualize how amazing next December will feel when you actually stuck with your resolution. Forget the haters, only your opinion of yourself matters, and now is the time to make a change. Good luck!
