How I Kept My New Year Resolution in 2022
Choose Your Own Unique Goals for Your New Year Resolution
It’s January, which means it’s never too late to start a resolution or a goal for the new year.
Some people like to make fun of resolutions, and state with their noses in the air, “They’ll be the same as they were last year,” but goals and resolutions don’t have to change who you are.
Others, like myself, are open to the idea of reflection and seeing what could go better and what you want to do better this year.
I like to think of them as staying yourself, but moving into the next chapter as a higher being of yourself. Why?
You learn a technique that advances you. One that you can practice and continue to evolve to make into a habit. Then, once you’ve made it a habit, you continue to do it. If you missed a few weeks, guess what? You can always pick up where you left off, and you’ll almost always feel better afterward.
You choose a goal that makes you feel better, and not worse. You may feel uncomfortable because it's something new. But after a while, that feeling will go away and it'll be a regular part of your life.
And if you try it, and you realize it's not for you, that's ok. Sometimes you start something and you hate it. Just do yourself a favor and don’t give up on yourself.
Bettering yourself is an educational tool that can do wonders for you.
Minor changes every day can make a vast difference over a longer period.
So how do you pick a Resolution that you’ll stick with?
Choose a New Year Resolution That Resonates With You. Not Just One That’s Popular
How’d I come up with a resolution that I stuck with in 2022?
First off, I made an achievable goal. I decided what I wanted and what I needed in 2022.
For me, my resolution was to focus more on my mental well-being, so I focused on three things.
Meditation. Had I done meditation before? Yes, but hadn’t taken it that seriously. I used the free version of Fit On and started meditating Monday through Friday for about 5-12 minutes.
Affirmations. I incorporated affirmations into the end of my meditation practice. I looked up affirmations online, but also came up with my own and wrote them down so I’d remember them in a Google Docs folder.
Then I’d write what resonated most with me that day in my notebook.
I would just write and then breathe in and out after I read each affirmation to myself. I turned on my Spotify to classical music as well to help me focus. Lyrics make my mind wander off to other places and things, and that was not helpful at all. I would lose focus on my affirmation.
Self-Care. For my true version of self-care, I took time to exercise and made sure I was sticking with it. I also found that having more of a routine like journaling, reading more, and putting away my phone helped a lot.
The reason I chose these as my resolutions was because they were all the things that I wanted to feel better about in my life. They weren’t the newest fad that everyone was doing, like Dry January. Ya know the one where you give up alcohol for a whole month?
I did them for me, and I think this contributed to why I accomplished them.
And because I was accomplishing these goals, I was also making sure I was continuously striving to achieve them.
My Next Focus Was Consistency
“To keep pursuing the goals, you need to be assured of the vitality and intensity of your dreams. If you are sure about what you want to achieve; consistency will follow suit.”1
I stayed consistent throughout the year.
There were days when I made excuses and started thinking, well I can always work out tomorrow or I’m not in the mood to take 20 minutes to do meditation and my affirmations.
Sometimes I gave in to what my mind was telling me, but most of the time I gave in to what I knew I needed to do.
To truly change, you need to follow a path and stick with it.
“The heart has its reasons but the mind makes the excuses.”2― Amit Abraham
I can't tell you how many times I felt grateful that I followed through and did the damn thing. I felt like I had stuck with my goal (yay!) but also felt better because of what I was giving myself. I stayed so consistent because
I found that I felt so much better each time I did it and
I made myself get up no matter what excuses I tried to come up with in my head
Yes, there were days when I would rather have laid on the couch and binge-watched Netflix for several hours, but I made myself do the work, and always felt better afterward.
Consistency was key in how I continued to meet my goals but putting my individual needs first was also important.
You need a New Year Resolution, but need to put yourself first too
Was I hard on myself for taking days off?
Nope. I was compassionate towards myself.
I know that I’m not perfect, and there are going to be days when I’m ”lazy” and that's ok. You have to be nice to yourself because you’re in charge of your life.
No one else is truly going to affect your life like your own damn self.
Did you know that some psychologists now recommend building self-compassion rather than self-esteem? 3
Psychologists are pushing the idea that you should be compassionate to yourself. So why not be nice to yourself and forgive yourself when something doesn’t go as planned, or you make a mistake?
Be kind to not only others but to yourself.
If you are continuously beating yourself up, you’re going to hate showing up. You’re going to start breaking away from your goal.
But, what if you patted yourself on the back, and celebrated each day that you kept working towards your goal? What if you forgave yourself for not showing up?
You'd feel like showing up the next day, and the next, until you meet the end-of-year reflection.
When You Reflect Back, What Will Your End of the Year Look Like?
BJ Fogg, a behavior scientist at Stanford and author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, told Life Kit in a 2020 interview, "it's easier to create habits and change than most people think, and it's faster than most people think. It can even be fun if you do it in the right way." 4
You can do it too. I have faith in you.
Now, I know that a lot of people will start a resolution, and will never follow through with it. I’ve been there and done it.
But that’s why it's so important to sit down with yourself and figure out what you want your end of the year to look like.
Do you want to reflect back on all the goals you accomplished or look back and wish you had taken the time to work towards those goals?
Excuses are like… well, you know the quote.
It’s true.
Everyone has excuses, but not everyone has the guts to actually do what they set out to do.
Be that person and shoot me a comment at the end of 2023 about how you accomplished that goal you set up at the beginning of the year.
P.S. Liked this article? Check out my blog for other inspirational and fun topics.
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