YouAlberta
We can create resolutions year-round. They keep us productive and help us navigate life with purpose. There’s a certain sentiment to creating resolutions to ring in the new year – a fresh start.
We don’t always take new year’s resolutions seriously; people set a goal in January, and it might be forgotten within a month's time. I believe resolutions can fail because they’re too broad, with unrealistic hopes of achieving them in a short amount of time. For example, the common one is: “I will go to the gym every day in the new year.” It can be difficult to achieve this quickly, and it’s not because you’re lazy. It's unrealistic to jump into it straight away; you’ve already established a routine, whether it's classes, work or volunteering.
I’ll break it down in this simple guide so you can make new year’s resolutions and check them off before the year even ends!
Specify your goal.
Being specific makes a significant difference as it can make a resolution a lot more approachable. My resolution is, “I will read more books in 2025.” It’s a broad resolution and I wouldn’t know where to start. Instead, I’ll set a goal of reading one book a week in the new year. Essentially, this will transform the resolution from a broad resolution that can be hard to tackle into action items that can be completed every week throughout the year.
Track your progress.
Check in on a regular basis, whether it’s every week or month, and see how you’ve progressed in achieving your goal. My resolution of reading more books allows for a weekly check in. I also aim to reach 10,000 steps a day, and I can track this progress daily through my phone. Naturally, our schedules may evolve, especially at the beginning of the semester, so it’s beneficial to reflect in case any changes need to be made. Perhaps it needs to be broken down into simpler actions. On the other hand, you might find you are progressing quicker than anticipated and would like to raise the stakes!
Determine your timeline.
Set action items that are time-bound by daily, weekly or monthly increments so it’s more digestible. This will push you to complete a certain action in time to get closer to your goal. This will also help you to schedule time to work towards your goal and determine how many hours you’ll be able to allocate. Between classes and other commitments, I often have around an hour to kill. For the slow weeks, I love to use this time towards my current resolutions, whether it's taking a walk around campus for some quick exercise or picking up my current read!
Reflect on your routine, schedule and interests.
As busy students, we only have so much time between classes and studying to work on new habits, especially if you also hold some kind of job. Reflect on your schedule to see how much time you can set aside for your new-set goal. Check assignment and exam schedules to foresee periods where you might not dedicate as much time towards your resolution. I like to put my commitments on a Google Calendar because it helps me visualize my schedule. This way, I know when I have free time and how I can divide it up.
It’s helpful to consider your pre-existing hobbies and interests and determine how a certain resolution is relevant to you. For example, “I want to exercise more in the new year.” Perhaps the gym isn’t so appealing, but a regular activity like going on a walk or taking a fitness class with CCR sounds more fun and fits easily into your busy schedule. Being specific with a goal pushes you to achieve it!
Be accommodating to yourself.
While it’s important to work towards our goals, we equally want to ensure that our mental health and well-being are taken care of. We can’t predict how our lives may work out every time, and this might cause you to miss a benchmark occasionally. Acknowledge that you’ve tried your best and celebrate this as a victory in itself. Revisit step two and make any changes that are necessary. Most importantly, learn from the setbacks, specifically in how you respond and approach them, both in the moment and in the future.
Overall, a new year’s resolution can help you set a new precedent: new year, new you! It doesn’t have to be about transforming but more so about growing. Use this guide to help you navigate the new year – or whenever you’re setting a goal – in a way that supports you rather than weighing you down!