Every year when New Years rolls around we find ourselves making resolutions that we hope will stick, and while some do, there are other, far more cliché resolutions that everyone seems to break year after year. For the first couple weeks of the new year, gyms are packed with people who vowed to get in shape and work out every day, but as time goes on, the gyms grow emptier. Here's a list of cliché New Year's resolutions that so many of us find hard to keep and ways to change them ever so slightly so that they'll last more than the first two weeks of the new year.
1. Work out every day/lose weight
Make a schedule. You don't have to work out every day, but maybe every other day or every two days. Instead of making it a chore and something you dread, make it a part of your week.
2. Eat healthy
This can be a tricky one, because who wants to give up their guilty pleasures? Start small and cut something out of your diet like soda. That is easier than swearing off sugar, but you'll still see results.
3. Stop procrastinating
Okay, this one is tough, but again the trick is to make it specific to you. If you're like me and Netflix is always more appealing than homework or studying, reward yourself after every hour or two of studying with one episode.
4. Get organized
Start by organizing one thing, like say, your car or room. Once you're able to keep that space organized, move on to another, then another. It won't be easy, but it will be less overwhelming and just as rewarding.
5. Save more, spend less
Instead of saying you are going to save more and spend less, start small; maybe pass on those flash sales for things you know you don't need and put that money in your savings instead.
6. Break a bad habit
So many of us suffer from the same bad habits, so recruit a friend who made the same resolution. Working through this together will give both of you someone to confide in and celebrate with. Very rarely is the answer to a problem going at it alone, and this is no different.
7. Travel more
Since this is so broad, it really could mean everything. Maybe this isn't the year you get to go and see the Northern Lights, but I can almost guarantee that there is something in your state or area that you have never seen or experienced, so start in your own backyard.
8. Take a step back from technology/social media
Quitting cold turkey can be extremely difficult, so instead of swearing off technology for an entire day, keep off your phone until lunch and work your way up from there.
9. Get more sleep
This is one thing I certainly struggle with. I like to stay up into the early hours of the morning watching Netflix or checking social media, and I know I'm not alone in this. So for people like me who want to stop this and get more sleep, set a technology "bed-time" where all electronics must be turned off.
10. Try something new
Since this can mean a million different things, there are infinite possibilities. Maybe it's time to try that food truck down the street or learn how to play an instrument; it doesn't have to be something spectacular or life changing to mean something.
11. Cut out toxic people
It can be hard to do this particular resolution because it is easy to feel guilty for cutting ties. This resolution is less about burning bridges and more about realizing what is good for you and what is holding you back. Sometimes relationships don't work out; not all were made to last. You can't keep people around you who make you into the person you do not want to be, so make this resolution about realizing that.
