Setting Resolutions All Year Long

Before I had a chance to see where my assigned seat was in Ms. Miller’s seventh hour English class, she asked the one question no one wants to answer the first day back from break: “has anyone stuck with their resolution so far?”

Even though we were only three days into 2018, nearly every student’s answer was, “I’ve already broken mine,” or “Mine lasted a day.” One kid even said, “I was thinking of trying to fix my procrastination problem, but then I thought I’d save it for next year’s resolution.”

This year, I hadn’t put a lot of thought about making a New Year’s resolution. This wasn’t because I was too busy keeping up with the Kardashians, but for the fact that I can never hold myself accountable for one. Last year, I thought I should give up soda, however by day four, I was holding a Dr. Pepper in my hands. Five seconds later, the soda was gone. Another year, I thought I would be able to give up desserts. Again, I accidentally scarfed down 3 scoops of ice cream on Jan. 10 without a problem.

So I’ve learned my lesson and I think it is time to change the tradition. Instead of setting a goal to reach at the end of the year, people should set multiple goals throughout the year and take them one step at a time.

Three hundred sixty five days is a long time to stay motivated to meet a goal. According to Forbes.com only eight percent of people end up following through with their resolutions.

If people create multiple resolutions you can always have a back up when you “accidentally” mistake some ice cream for some mashed potatoes. This way if you don’t meet a goal or are unmotivated to stick with your original resolution, you can create a new one.

By setting goals throughout the year, you can take a different approach to each resolution without being overwhelmed and really commit to following through with them. Say someone wanted to work out more and lose weight, they could start going to the gym every two weeks. If it is going well they could commit to once a week, maybe even eventually twice a week.

    Honestly, conquering multiple goals can be more  satisfying than one giant goal that probably won’t be achieved. If you think about it, would you rather have given up sweets in general? Or a number of your all time favorite candy bars?

After years of failing with year-long resolutions, I decided this year to try something different. I’m leaving Reese’s Pieces behind for just one month instead of a whole year. Then I can advance to unknown grounds and attempt to put an end to my snickers addiction.

For now I will be missing the sweet taste of irresistible Reese’s Pieces. However in July you can find me after I have given up ALL candy bars and see how accomplished I feel.