I’m sure I am not alone in feeling completely thrown by the fact it is January 2020. On the third day of January, I wrote 2018 and that is basically how me accepting it is the 3rd week of January is going. At this time of the year, all of the new year resolutions that were created have been given up or are dwindling, and now creating a realistic idea of what goal to give yourself for the year is beginning.
Speaking from experience I am HORRIBLE at actually keeping my resolutions, and after years of it going wrong after the third day of the new year and proceeding to call it quits I realized something… all of my ‘resolutions’ were grand scale things that were on the complete opposite spectrum of how I had been living. And there lied the problem and why resolutions never tend to stick.
You see it every year. The new year comes and everyone decides they are going to go to the gym and workout every day. They are going to stop eating out. Stop eating sweets. Stop drinking soda. Get up every day at 7am or 6am or 5am. Stop going to bed late. Go to bed at 10pm. The list goes on and on. The problem isn’t that these are bad things, the problem is we all go into the new year expecting to take these resolutions that are so outside the habits we have created and expect them to change overnight as if the new year has a giant reset button that will take away the months or even years of habits we have instilled.
The solution to creating resolutions that stick is to not create resolutions at all. I know what you are thinking “Wait, Alexandra, what are you talking about. So I should just not change anything and give up before I start?” No. The way to create resolutions that stick is to not create them but instead make specific, realistic goals for yourself. When I say “specific” I mean it. Instead of saying “I want to eat healthy” or “I want to get in shape” you need to pinpoint specifics that you can follow, and to make it even better, you need to break that goal into smaller goals along the way.
I’m going to use ‘eating healthier’ as my example.
To create a specific goal you can say “I want to eat healthier by lowering the amount of sugar and unhealthy snacks I eat.” This gives you something tangible to strive for by knowing what exactly you want to do to achieve this.
Then break the goal down into parts (aka mini-goals).
This doesn’t mean throw out everything unhealthy you have in your house but instead by starting out with buying some healthy snacks to supplement your unhealthy ones with something good. And at the same time not purchasing any more unhealthy snacks until you finish what you have. Next you can only start getting more snacks like fruit, hummus, nuts, etc because with the bad snacks not being in your reach you will be less tempted to eat them. This method can be done on all of your goals.
You just have to have something to strive for without expecting immediate results. As that is what kills resolutions.
Also, don’t overwhelm yourself with all the things you want to do for the year. Just give yourself maybe 3, no more than 5, goals you have that seem tangible but still challenging. This will help you be more likely to actually stick to your resolutions.
For my resolutions this year I have two main goals I want to strive for this year and one thing that is not exactly a goal.
1. Continue my health journey.
A very cliche resolution but it is something really important to me that I have been working on in the past few years. For me, my health journey includes getting to the best I can be physically, mentally and spiritually.
I have mentioned my anxiety before on the blog but it has never been something I actually felt comfortable talking about (cuz I have anxiety ABOUT my anxiety but that’s another story.) You can see my post about Tips to Manage Anxiety in College here. So being more open about that stuff is one of my subgoals, as well as getting to my ideal weight.
Something that isn’t really talked about is it being hard for people who are naturally slender to GAIN weight. It is something I have been struggling with since high school and the past few years I have prioritized actually working towards this and I have made a lot of progress. Did you know stress/anxiety is another factor in why it is harder to gain weight for people who are already struggling to gain weight? It shows why all of this goes together. For my other naturally slender readers who have struggled with this would you eventually want me to do a post about my journey? Let me know below and tell me about your own journeys!
2. Make time and prioritize my blog, but make it ENJOYABLE.
Towards the second half of 2019, I didn’t make time for my blog which made me feel completely unmotivated and frankly kind of sad because I really enjoy blogging and creating content for both the post and photos. I love planning content and thinking up picture ideas but I get so caught up in everything else I have to do that I push this off because it isn’t “as important” as things like college and then because I have pushed it off I start to go down the road of comparison with other bloggers and their content and their beautiful photos that I forget to have fun and take pride in my work.
I want to be proud of the content I put out there and stop worrying about what everyone might think about it and not be self-conscious. I think I might even actually jump into the Instagram Stories train because it is something I love seeing other bloggers do. But don’t quote me on this because it terrifies me 0.0.
Though I did post myself doing ‘The Routine’ from FRIENDS so I don’t think I can do anything dorkier than that anyhow… If you haven’t seen it do yourself a favor and check it out on my Instagram @thoughtsanddaisies because I promise, especially if you love Friends, you won’t be disappointed. So that is another thing I want to do.
3. The third, and the none real, goal of the bunch is…
for the past three years, I have been choosing a word of the year to stick by and take with me throughout my year.
I use the Word of the Year Generator created and coded by Jennifer Fulwiler, whom I LOVE, I wrote a review about her book One Beautiful Dream which you can see *here*, and this year I got the word ‘Hold.’
I am not really sure what this word is going to entail going forward but I didn’t actually know the past two years either and by the end of the year everything made sense. If you would like to join me in having a word of the year the generator link is below, let me know what word you get!
What resolutions, or goals, do you have planned for 2020? Let’s try to make this the best year yet!
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“ACTION” I’ll have to think about what this one is for me…
Good post Mija! Ignore everything else and keep blogging with your awesome personality. It always shines through. The cool thing is that there are no rules here so enjoy the ride. By the way, the word generator gave me “Breakdance”! Woohoo! Just kidding. It was “Speak”. Love you. – Nino.