Every year on December 31st as the clock strikes midnight and it becomes a new year, countless individuals make his or her own personal resolutions on what they want to change about themselves. These resolutions can vary greatly, from losing weight, having a more positive attitude, or eating less of his or her favorite cake. While resolutions are great in theory, in reality, many people never follow through. The gym is always it's busiest for the first two weeks of the new year, people's attitudes are happier for maybe the first month, and people stray away from that extra piece of cake as long as they can, but come February, most of those resolutions become a thing of the past. That's why resolutions should be a thing of the past and it's time to make a plan.
Holding yourself accountable to a resolution is not as difficult as holding yourself to a plan. Resolutions are just ideas. Such as "I want to go to the gym more and lose weight," or "I want to eat healthier this year." These statements are such broad ideas that it becomes difficult to not view them as unattainable and eventually convince yourself that you are unable to do them and that "Maybe next year" mentality begins to sink in. However, by making a plan, you can achieve your goals that you set on January 1st.
Instead of telling yourself that you want to go to the gym more and lose weight, make a plan that by the end of a certain amount of time you would like to have lost 5 pounds and be able to run a 5k. Mark it in your calendar by the date you want to have this goal completed and each day work a little harder towards that goal. That way, each day you are holding yourself accountable to the goal you had set on January 1st. Even by March you should still be thinking everyday about that plan you had made for yourself two months ago.
Resolutions are things that every person has made at least once in their lives, however, if you ever ask someone how long that resolution lasted, they never say it lasted for that long. That's why resolutions should be a thing of the past and not the first thing everyone plans on making at the beginning of the new year. So this New Year, don't make a resolution, make a plan.
