At long last, the year that felt like it would last forever is finally winding down. The New Year is just around the corner. With this much-anticipated change comes the trope of a New Year’s Resolution. This year, rather than resorting to the often-ditched resolutions of New Years’ past, these tips will help ensure your goal is not only achievable but also empowering.
Dig Deep
When developing a New Year’s resolution, you shouldn’t focus on surface-level changes that can be accomplished in a day. Instead, look into the heart of your future goals and determine what can realistically be achieved in 2021. What do you want to do in 2021? More importantly, who do you want to be?
Many people pull directly from their bucket list, others check off items from their to-do lists, and some think of an overarching goal for their betterment. Whatever your desire, however big or small, make sure you’re really getting to the heart of the issue when setting your goals for the new year.
Keep It Realistic
One of the biggest reasons New Year’s resolutions are ditched shortly after being made is that they aren’t realistic, achievable goals. In most cases, we overshoot feasibility and, within a couple of weeks, will have broken our resolution.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, which is a cliché, I know, but it’s so true. Let’s say your overarching goal is to eat healthier. Ridding your house of junk food and going cold turkey (quite literally) will have you abandoning your diet almost immediately. Instead, set up smaller, achievable goals throughout the year until you ultimately arrive at that overarching goal.
Push Your Boundaries
While you want to keep your resolution as realistic as possible, you also want to push your boundaries. In other words, you don’t want to pick a resolution that isn’t going to challenge you in some way, shape, or form.
Challenging doesn’t have to mean impossible, but it should mean that you are setting goals you’ll need to work to achieve. Push the boundaries of your day-to-day life and ensure your resolution is propelling you forward in a way that results in a better you.
Avoid Comparisons
Last but certainly not least, avoid comparing yourself to anyone else at all costs. New Year’s resolutions are personal to the individual that makes them.
Comparing your resolution to someone else’s can also deflate your progress, putting you off track to achieve your goal. Allow 2021 to be the year of self-improvement. The only person you look to for goal-setting is yourself.
Developing a New Year’s resolution, especially after the year we’ve all just experienced, is no cakewalk. That being said, there is a way to ensure your New Year’s resolution is empowering and achievable, rather than constructed from clichés and popular goals. So take these tips to heart when thinking through your resolution, and look forward to a New Year with a new and empowered you!