Get a Head Start on Your New Year's Resolution
New Year's resolutions are a tradition as old as time. The start of the new year is a perfect time to set new goals for better personal health and happiness in the long run. With less than a month until 2024 (yikes), we're here to help you get started.
The most common resolutions each year include drinking less, sleeping more, eating healthier or working out more. Only 9 percent of Americans actually successfully complete their New Year's resolutions each year. The core reason behind this is that it is incredibly hard to commit to something for 365 days and stay motivated.
The key is to set these goals in smaller increments. Tell yourself you are just going to do it for a month. It’s necessary to expect the challenge, but you can set timely goals that can be measured. By the end of the month, you’ll likely notice the positive difference you’ve made in your life, and it may motivate you to stick with your goal for another month. Even tweaking that goal and adapting it to fit your needs better can continue to positively impact you.
Soon enough, you may find that you are stuck with your resolution, or some form of it, for the whole year of 2024! So now, the hard part: coming up with a measurable, meaningful goal for YOU.
When developing your resolution, think about your needs. As college students, a lot of elements of our lifestyle that could be better include vaping, going out too often and drinking too much, and mindless scrolling on social media.
On November 1, I deleted TikTok. On average, college students spend three to four hours a day scrolling on TikTok. I noticed this mindless scrolling and realized how much time I was wasting where I could've been doing other meaningful things — being with the people I love, reading, doing homework, getting some fresh air, you name it.
The first two weeks I found myself opening my phone, swiping to a certain page and hovering my thumb over nothing, wondering what I was looking for in the first place. Subconsciously, I was looking for TikTok and never realized it until I went to click an app that wasn’t there. As we entered into the second half of November, I stopped looking for TikTok. Originally, the plan was to delete the app for just a month. My average screen time dropped by almost two hours a day, and I have no intention of re-downloading it.
Whatever it is that could improve your happiness, make the effort to achieve it. Start by setting achievable, measurable goals and stick with them for a month, and then go from there. And no need to wait till January 1 — you can start these positive habits now and get a jumpstart on your New Year's resolutions!