Eesha’s Early Excerpt: Creating Tangible Resolutions

1. Eat healthier

2. Workout more

3. Spend less money

These are the three most common goals created for a new year. With the 2021 here, we are all creating resolutions to be our best selves. These aspirations are often made impulsively and unfortunately never really maintained. While this statement doesn’t apply to everyone, a fair majority of people can agree. In fact, a study by researchers at Scranton University found that only 19 percent of individuals keep their resolutions. In this newsletter I go into the psychology of new year resolutions and where most people often go wrong, and how we can avoid this. I also dive into ways we can keep our goals and successfully achieve them.

Before getting into the nitty gritty, we must establish what a resolution is. A resolution is a tradition of which “a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life.” The reason most people fail to keep up with these aspirations, is because they are not detailed enough. It is easy to quit the journey of “eating healthier” compared to the aim of restricting yourself to only one meal of takeout every week. A more specific goal as such will be easier to follow as to a vague aspiration that is easily left behind.

So, at this point we know that a resolution is something that is intended to accomplish a goal or create a positive effect on ourselves. We also know that psychologically vague and less specific goals cause us to fall off the horse (our goal). Now you may ask, how must we construct these resolutions?! There is a special acronym that will help when creating your resolutions; S.M.A.R.T.

S : The “S” in this acronym stands for specific. Creating a goal that is detail oriented will make it more likely to be achieved. Turn something like “I want to exercise more” into “I want to exercise 5 days a week for 1 hour”.

M: The “M” stands for measurable. Make sure your goal is something that you can easily measure over a period of time. For example, if you choose to spend less money this year, you can easily track it by looking at your expense charts. This way you can accurately represent your progress.

A: The “A” stands for achievable. It's great to have goals that are difficult to attain, and cause you to work hard. However, you still want to make sure it is reasonable. Instead of going from eating takeout everyday to eating none at all, as a form of “eating healthier”, try creating a goal that eases your way into it, and makes it more reasonable to achieve.

R: The “R” stands for relevant. When creating a goal, it is important to think about its relevance. Ask yourself, “Does this matter to you?”. “Why are you creating this goal?”. If you feel inspired and desire change in these areas than the goal is much easier to attain, as to a goal that makes you feel self remorse.

T: The “T” stands for time frame. Any goal needs to be timely. The goal must be something that can be achieved in the next year and be grown upon. It shouldn’t be too drastic or difficult that is nearly impossible to get done in a short time frame. Or something that can easily be done in a month. This will leave you let down, and unmotivated or leave you with nothing to continue the practice.

Now that you have your resolutions made, the real obstacle is keeping them! ⅓ of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned mid-January! In response, I came up with a list of four things that will assist in maintaining your goals, and keeping you on track to reach your aspirations.

1. Create a plan - before you set your goal in action, decide how you are going to go about it. Make deadlines you would like to meet. Meet a community that is interested in the same goal to make it easier. You can even plan out rewards for each milestone! If you want to get faster, create a plan that by the end of each month you will decrease your mile time by 10 seconds each month. Find a running group that you run with, to inspire you and push yourself! Whatever it may be, plan out your goals to make them realistic and attainable.

2. Getting started - this is the hardest part of any journey. Now that you have your plan, start slow and gradually improve. Don’t put it off for another day, start today!

3. Systems and Routines - goals are not valuable on their own. In order to successfully achieve a resolution, systems and routines are necessary. Implement a system in your daily life that will assist you in your progress. For example, make it a task to go to the gym or go on a run everyday at 6pm, if you are aiming to exercise more.

4. Reward yourself - the most important part of trying to achieve a goal is rewarding yourself. If you have eaten clean all week, let yourself have a nice baked goodie at the end of the week. Letting yourself have these treats will reduce binging all at once or indulging after working for so long.

5. Picking yourself back up - Over your journey, it is normal to face obstacles. How you deal with them is the most crucial part. If you run into a hurdle, remember why you started in the first place. Ease back into it, and give yourself time. You can do it!!

I would love to hear your New year’s resolutions and how you incorporated these tips into the making of your own. Until next time!