Strive to keep resolutions throughout year
January 27, 2010 • Micayla Greathouse, Staff Reporter
Filed under Feature
New Year’s Day:
“I will exercise every day for my New Year’s resolution.”
A day later:
“I didn’t really have time today, but I’m sure I’ll catch up tomorrow.”
Another few days later:
“Well, maybe this will work out for me next year.”
Are you a reliable person? This means that when you say something, you will keep to your word. What about when you tell yourself something you are going to achieve? Do you trust yourself in making a New Year’s resolution and then following through on it?
Each new year is a time when people make promises to themselves. For some, these promises will become disappointments in the near future.
“I don’t make resolutions,” sophomore Travis Wright said. “I just prefer not to disappoint myself later.”
Some people don’t necessarily have a “yes or no answer,” and they have reasoning behind their thinking.
“Personally, I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions,” junior Rachel Palmberg said. “Many people see the new year as a “new beginning” or a chance to start over, but I disagree. Time just keeps going, and is Jan. 1, 2010 really that different from Dec. 31, 2009? I think we should strive to be better people all year round and not just make some worthless promise that you’re probably going to forget in a few weeks anyway.”
Others agree with Palmberg in the fact that the last day of December isn’t really all that different from the first day of January.
“I don’t make New Year’s resolutions because I have never seen a point to making yourself better once a year when it is something you should do every year,” junior Jacob Taylor said.
So many people share the opinions of Palmberg and Taylor that it was difficult to find others who do make resolutions each year.
However, freshman Dustin Mulkey said that he sometimes makes resolutions and that he’s successful with them “about 75 percent of the time.” He said he will most likely make some this year.
But for the people out there who are skeptical as well as for the people who desire to use the new year as a time for making resolutions, here are some tips from about.com on how to keep them.
One of the biggest tips is to be realistic about your goal. Make short-term goals in order to achieve the overall objective.
Secondly, plan ahead. Don’t wait until the night before to decide on your goals for the future because whatever resolutions you make that night will be based on your mindset you have at that moment.
Another great tip of advice is to outline your plan so you can figure out how to deal with the temptation you may face that will break the new habit, whether that may be staying accountable with a friend, or thinking positive.
Also, track your progress. Then celebrate little parts of your success by rewarding yourself with something you enjoy that doesn’t contradict your resolution.
Lastly, stick to it. Whether you have one or five resolutions, experts say it takes 21 days for a new activity to become a habit and six months for it to become part of your personality.
Applying some of these points will help you stay on track with the goals that you wish to achieve whether you start at the beginning of the year, or just sometime in the middle.
“Keep your head up and realize that goals aren’t going to come to reality without work and patience,” Taylor said.
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