How To Make and Keep Your New Year's Resolutions

Photo by Matthew LeJune

New Decade, New You.

Congrats! You made it! If you’re reading this—you have survived the holidays. Take a moment and pat yourself on the back.

2020 is “special”, because it’s a new decade, and because of social media. Everyone and their sister’s dog’s are sharing their 2020 goals. So after all that binge eating and drinking, you want to change your self-sabotaging ways.

Maybe you want to hit the gym and sweat out your bad decisions.

Maybe you want to land your dream job.

…Or maybe, you don’t even know where to start.

Reflect On The Emotions Behind Why You Want To Change

In 2018, I wrote a 10 bullet points, wide spreading goals that covered everything from fitness to love to career. By June, I forgot all of them.

Later, I realized, those 10 bullet points put a lot of pressure on me. I created goals based off of society’s expectation and put a lot of pressure to be perfect. I didn’t listen to my heart.

If goals are supposed to make you better, they shouldn’t make you feel like shit.

I know I struggle with self-love, I overthink, and I have a hard time staying positive. What I really needed and wanted is to change my self-sabotaging thinking habits.

Keep Your Resolutions Short and Sweet

Reflect hard on your life, where do you want to see it go?

What obstacles are in your way? Most of the time. These obstacles are all personal.

Think high-level.

You want it to be short and ambiguous enough that when you are confronted with personal obstacles, you can wield this NY-Resolution-Sword and slash through those demons.

For example, in 2019 I promised myself, as long as I was leading my life in 2019 with Love and Positivity, I was hitting my targets.

My reasoning? I am an ambitious, confused, twenty-something who just wants to follow her heart and put herself in a better position than yesterday.

I lived up to my 2019 New Year’s Resolution everyday.

What about 2020?

After some reflecting on where I want to see my career, my personal life, and my health, I’ve decided my 2020 resolution is: Bravery and Belief in my Self-Worth.

So there you go.

The key to making and keeping your New Year’s Resolutions is creating simple goals you know you will keep for the entire year.

Do not create a goal that creates feelings of shame, disgust, or sadness. That’s not the point. Create a goal that will light your heart on fire, you want intense emotion, that way you know it’s real. And whenever 2020 gets tough, as it inevitably will, you have the proper tools to take on the challenge.

Bring it on, 2020!