And so, a new year begins. As I sit on my bed with the sun shining brightly through my window after days of dreary weather, I ponder what this actually means. For the vast majority of people, it is a time of resolutions. According to Statistic Brain, only 8% of new year's resolutions are successful. If so few resolutions stand a chance at being successful, what's the point? While this may seem like a pessimistic view to some, please hear me out.
As I scroll through my newsfeed, many people seem to be stuck with a "new year, new me" attitude. While this isn't a bad thing, it is often ends up being unrealistic. It is a well-known fact that specific, short-term goals tend to be more successful than broad, long-term goals. The top 3 goals for 2015 were to lose weight, be organized, and to save money. Don't get me wrong these are all great goals, but how are these goals going to be met? Without a specific plan, will there really be a "new and improved" you 366 days (leap year!) from now?
In most cases, there will not; you will be stuck in relatively the same place as you are now. For this reason, I choose not to make new year's resolutions without also making a plan. While it is important to have long-term goals and a general idea of where you want to be down the road from now, they usually do not become a reality without the help of short-term goals. If your resolution is to lose weight, don't just buy a gym membership and tell yourself you will go whenever it fits in your schedule. Instead, create a weekly work-out plan and find a trainer or friend to help you stick with it.
I am not normally one to publicly share my goals, but today I will. As a college student constantly striving for perfection, it is easy to get wrapped up in studying. I am usually pretty good about giving myself study breaks, but they tend to lack variety. With a long term goal of giving myself breaks that are more beneficial than say watching an episode of Friends on Netflix, I have decided to make myself a bucket list for 2016. Because I can't just leave the library and hop on a plane to the grand canyon, this bucket list is a little different from most.
This bucket list is filled with activities that will pull me away from technology and school. Each day, at least one of my breaks will come from the list, whether it be reading a book I've been waiting to read, playing a board game with my little brother, or volunteering some place. While this may not seem like a typical resolution, it is my resolution, intended to be kept by taking everything one day at a time instead of expecting to see a year's worth of improvement in a few days.
