New Year New Me: The Reality of New Year’s Resolutions and How to Get Back on Track

As the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve, individuals across the globe participate in a common tradition- New Year’s resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are made to reflect on the past year, identify areas of strengths and weaknesses, and strive for change. These resolutions are commonly aimed at personal development, self growth, and improvements in positive habits.

Setting goals for the new year can be a great way to make positive improvements, however there are many factors that can make successful goals challenging. Some of these factors include the lack of motivation, planning, support, time management, and daily obstacles. Although the process of sticking to goals can be challenging, there are many ways that can help ease this process, and make it less challenging.

Start off by simply reassessing your current resolution, and your current circumstances. Identify what circumstances have made this goal challenging, whether it’s with school, extracurriculars, the resources available, and so on. Identifying these circumstances can help direct ones focus on areas that could use more improvement. Once these circumstances have been identified, establishing systems can help to regain focus towards resolutions and ensure individual accountability.

One system that can make a big difference is time blocking to better manage and prioritize tasks. Not only does time blocking incentivize a person to plan their day ahead of time, but it allocates time meant just for making a new year’s resolutions successful. It encourages a person to spend time that is set aside just for their goal, instead of juggling multiple tasks simultaneously.

Another solution is to utilize tangible resources that are widely available. An example of this is daily planners. Similar to time blocking, daily planners allow planning ahead and on a larger scale. This tool can make tasks less stressful by providing specific deadlines, ultimately allowing more time to be spent working towards goals.

In addition, taking advantage of support systems can help improve accountability. Partner up with others that are willing to provide their support, or even those that have similar goals. Set up regular check in’s and progress updates, or even make it a friendly competition! It’s ok to have fun with your goals, especially if it means improved motivation, leading to success.

Lastly and most importantly, establish a reward system. According to Kellie Wong from Achievers, “Incentive programs work because they leverage human behavior” (Wong, 2023). Setting up incentives motivates individuals to work harder towards their goals, instead of simply giving it. This system increases engagement and positive mindsets, which are essential to working towards the same goal.

These are just a few systems that can help improve persistence throughout the entire journey of accomplishing these New Years goals. Combining these systems can help provide a more complete approach. Even with the use of these systems, it’s important to keep in mind that small changes in resolutions sometimes can be made, and other times, they may be required to be made; it all depends on the situation, but most importantly, make these changes to make the entire experience more enjoyable. Staying open minded just ensures that changes can be successfully made, while still blossoming into one’s best self.

Works Cited

Heinz, A. (n.d.). 7 Ways to Stay on Track With Your New Year's Resolutions. Little Coffee Fox. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://littlecoffeefox.com/7-ways-stay-track-new-years-resolutions/

Jiménez, G. (2024, January 22). Slipping on Your New Year's Resolutions? Science Tips to Get on Track. Scientific American. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/slipping-on-your-new-years-resolutions-science-tips-to-get-on-track/

Smith, L. (n.d.). 10 Tips to Help You Keep Your New Year's Resolution. Gaiam. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://www.gaiam.com/blogs/discover/10-tips-to-help-you-keep-your-new-year-s-resolution

Thompson, K. (2023, April 18). 10 ways to get back on track with your New Year's resolution. North Central Surgical Hospital. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://northcentralsurgical.com/10-ways-to-get-back-on-track-with-your-new-years-resolution/

Wong, K. (2023, July 24). 18 Employee Incentive Programs To Help You Engage Your Team. Achievers. Retrieved January 29, 2024, from https://www.achievers.com/blog/employee-incentive-programs/