Living Up To My Resolutions

To me, resolutions can be incredibly daunting. I make a list at the end of each year-—naming all the ways I want to do to better myself, yet it hardly ever seems to happen the way I imagined, or at all. The idea in itself is great. Who doesn’t want to make an effort to become a better person? The thing that scares me is that it is the magnitude of change we can’t help but envision when we make our lists.

Granted, it is only February, but I am already struggling to keep the same positive attitude toward my goals for betterment. Losing weight, saving money, being more social, and becoming more worldly are all broad, open-ended resolutions that I tend to focus on every year. And, like every year, I struggle and end up feeling bad when I fall short of my aspirations. My resolutions for the year usually end up fizzling out by the end of the first month.

This year I decided to try and make a resolution for my resolutions; resolution inception, if you will.

I resolved to simplify my life and goals.

This isn’t to say that I want to take things out of my life or that I want to make my goals smaller. I have the same goals I have always had, just in more manageable portions. I can even further this by aiming for monthly and semester goals instead of shooting for yearlong resolutions.

Breaking up my big goals into smaller, bite-sized accomplishments allows me to gain a better sense of success.

For example:

Instead of trying to lose weight, I am going start simply by drinking more water. There are a ton of studies about the benefits of drinking more water and I think that it is something manageable that I won’t feel pressured to accomplish.

Being more social is an intimidating resolution as I tend to be more introverted. This semester I am challenging myself to become more involved. Getting involved in clubs and opportunities within my major, searching for internships and jobs, and running for positions in my sorority are all ways I can see myself stepping outside of my comfort zone and meeting more people.

Saving money is a tougher one to simplify. There are many different ways to save money but I’m not sure which one is the most effective. This month I am going to try to limit my impulsive shopping. I tend to grab things at the store that look good at the moment but end up not being all that great when I realize I’m constantly broke and didn’t really need it (I’m looking at you, family-sized bag of Cheetos).

Becoming more worldly is such an open-ended goal that I get intimidated before I even start. I realized that in order to become more worldly, I have to decide what that actually means to me. I often find myself inspired by people who can remove themselves from the technology dependent addiction in our society. Therefore, this month I am challenging myself to read a non-electronic copy of a book for one hour every day. Reading books used to be a daily past time for me but as school and life have demanded more of my time and energy, I don’t read, or even enjoy reading as much as I used to. I expect this challenge to be the hardest because I know that I am addicted to my phone and attempting to be electronic for an hour on my own volition is going to be a challenge. I know that I need to ease back on my media consumption but quitting it cold turkey will probably do more harm than good.

It is my hope that by delving up my life-changing resolutions into smaller portions will yield more success than tackling them head on has proven. Instead of feeling intimidated by my list of goals, I’m actually feeling inspired and think I can really make a difference for myself this month, the semester, and eventually, the year.