4 Ways to Stick To Your Resolutions
By Judy Lee ‘17
A few weeks after the magic of New Years dies down, it’s hard to continue to fight on (ha ha, pun intended) for your resolutions. Here are several things to consider when you struggle to regain motivation:
1. Write them down
Having a journal is difficult to maintain, but if this resolution is important to you, you need to actualize it through writing. If you don’t want to be bothered with an everyday schedule, write them down in more unique ways. For example, perhaps write sticky note reminders to yourself that you can place around your room. Or perhaps create a lovely poster with the resolution (or a motivational quote) to hang up somewhere visible. As they say, out of sight, out of mind, so keep it in sight.
2. Set reminders
If this resolution includes something you need to do every day, keep yourself on track by setting reminders on your phone, laptop, and/or tablet. Every morning before the day starts, have an alarm with the reminder or if that doesn’t sound appealing, have an evening chime that goes off before bed to remind you for the day to come.
3. Have others hold you accountable
This works for those with both positive and negative feedback loops! The trick is finding the person who will work with your loop. If you run on positive energy and feedback, make sure you don’t choose a friend who will “shame” you when you’re not on track. If you prefer to be disciplined, don’t pick the sympathetic friend to hold you accountable.
4. Stop making unreachable resolutions
Harsh, but true. If none of these (or the research you’re doing on sticking to your resolutions) are speaking to you, this means one of two things: your goal is too vast to reach in a year, or you don’t want it enough. This isn’t a bad thing, but realizing it and recalibrating your goals to the life you actually lead will help immensely in setting appropriate, reachable goals.
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