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How to Make Your New Year's Resolution Achievable?
The concept of New Year's resolutions has become synonymous with the start of a new year. We attribute magical powers to these resolutions, believing they will instantly help us lose weight, stop smoking at parties, pay more attention in university lectures, and keep our rooms tidy. Then around February or March, when we realize we are failing to keep our New Year's resolution, we quickly lose our enthusiasm. However, making a New Year's resolution is not mandatory, and it's not even...
...the key to a successful start to the year. In this post, we will show you practical tips that can make your new year successful without any hocus-pocus!
Who Made New Year's Resolutions First?
Fun fact: making New Year's resolutions is not a fashion of just a few hundred years. According to records, the ancient Babylonians were the first to make these good practices about 4,000 years ago. Although they made promises to earn the favor of the gods rather than for themselves, and their resolutions were more about repaying loans, the essence remained the same.
For thousands of years, we humans have viewed resolutions as magical, overriding forces that can steer our lives in a better direction.
Why Is It a Problem to Make New Year's Resolutions?
If everyone could keep them, then of course there would be no problem with these magically powerful sentences. The real issue is not with making resolutions but with their formulation.
"Next year I'll lose weight" – okay, but what's the plan? "I’ll pay more attention in lectures" – great, but is there something specific you will do to achieve this goal?
When you make a New Year's resolution, the real pitfall almost always lies in omitting the most crucial step in planning: how you will achieve your goal. It's a great resolution to want to lose five kilos, but what do you need to do to make it happen? How long will it take? What diet and exercise forms should you choose? You can see that making an effective New Year's resolution is not as simple as you thought. That's why we show a method that can help you turn your dream state into reality!
Make a Smart New Year's Resolution!
You may have heard about SMART goal-setting in our self-improvement videos, and for good reason. Although you may have heard a lot about this method in economics classes, it’s less clear how it can be applied outside of school. The SMART method is also referred to as a method of conscious goal-setting, as it helps make resolutions achievable, understandable, and truly attainable.
SMART is an acronym (just a little reminder from old grammar classes), which stands for:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Relevant, Important
T – Time-bound
If you examine the resolution "Next year I'll lose weight," you can see it does not meet the criteria of a SMART goal. However, if you rephrase it to "Next year, I aim to lose five kilograms in six months by cutting out sugar and bread from my diet and incorporating regular running," you then have a much “smarter” goal-setting.
No Rush!
It's okay if you feel your goals for the coming year are still vague. Not only the new year has magical powers regarding new habits. You can start a new hobby in March or even August.
The key is to always set goals realistically, measured against your current life situation. If you’re going through a tough period and school is difficult, don’t expect yourself to start a new sport and read a novel every week. "Making a New Year's resolution" can be done at any time of the year, as it’s the planning and persistence that will lead you to your goal.
We wish you the best of luck!
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