New Year’s resolutions: My honest opinion & 7 ways to keep them

2023 is now a complete story of the past. The end of another eventful yet learning year. We just went through 12 months and celebrated the arrival of another 12 in front of us. This is what makes us want to give ourselves amazingly big resolutions so we can feel new, so we can feel like the new year is another you, yet we don’t realise that what needs to be new, is our own mindset and that doesn’t come along when January starts, it comes along when your brain starts to work itself towards that new beginning.

My honest opinion on resolutions

Why are we so fucking pressed about having resolutions? Why does every January 1^st have to start with people that want to do better this year, that want to stop bad habits and make new ones? Because we are lazy motherfuckers. We all are. Literally. We all wait until this date to all start making big plans and get ourselves a new skin when we should start now. When if we always wait for « the right moment », it will never be the right moment. Sure, it’s motivating to look around and see people wanting the best for themselves for the new year ahead, but if that’s what you base your motivation on, where are you going to find it in mid-June when everybody’s going to be on vacation and probably be thinking about Margaritas more than some goal they set in January?

I’ve never kept any New Year’s resolutions in my whole life. What is it about them anyways? Is it to keep us interesting? To make ourselves look better in front of other people? Is it truly something we’re going to keep? Probably not.

The one thing that will always follow you everywhere, is yourself. Becoming your best version started years ago not at midnight two days ago. It’s a commitment, you commit to yourself everyday, your relationship with yourself is never something that should be pushed to another date, it’s something you wake up and go to bed with ev.e.ry.day. If you really want to change yourself, realise how much fucking work it will take, how much showing up it will require and how much time you’ll need to put into it, so you might as well start now.

I remember the last time I put myself up for some resolution, it was aaaaaaaaaaalways about the New Year energy, it’s like I was at a start line with everybody else and when the time hit midnight, the ‘’race’’ (meaning: the year and resolutions) started and majority of us stopped after a little while because we just weren’t interested anymore. Because it was March 19^th and not January 7^th. Well the people that finish the race at the end of December are the ones that could’ve started at any time throughout the year but they choose this one and kept up with it. Now I did set myself some goals for 2024, but they’re clear. They’re precise. They’re feasible while still needing hard work. I know I’ll do them because my motivation didn’t only come because it was a new year, it came around months ago.

Ways you can actually MAINTAIN those resolutions.

• Set up realistic goals & time frame

If it’s not a specific goal with small steps, you’ll never get it. If you’re just saying ‘’I want to eat HeAltHiEr this year’’, girl let’s be for real, will you? And what does it even mean? What is healthier? What’s the limit, how will you know that whatever item is okay and the other not? For the next 365 days? How the hell do you think it’s possible to achieve an unclear goal like this? Give yourself at least a little shot.

Here are some examples for you:

1. By February 15^th, I want to loose/gain XX pounds.
2. By May 1^st, I want to have started/finished my personal project.
3. For 1 month, I want to follow X diet.
4. I want to read at least 3 books before this summer.

• Be original with your goals

Think about it, what do you REALLY want to achieve in life? What are the things that make you truly happy? What do you actually look forward to?

Let’s take for example, the gym. I love going to the gym, the results keep me going and I look forward to putting my strength into action. However, I know some people that do want to move, but they hate the gym, and that’s completely okay but it means you have to do something that makes you happier to move such as pilates, yoga, any kind of sport, walks, runs, etc. You do something you look forward to doing, not something that’s a basic in people’s resolutions (aka going to the gym more, it’s not clear and it may not be what you like). Therefore, the goal will first be more precise and more doable.

• Dissect your goal

Try to understand what’s your real goal behind the big unclear one you’re saying.

Let’s say you want to eat healthier, what do you really mean by that? Eating healthier can mean so many things;

1. Do you want to drink more water?
2. Do you want to completely stop eating out or junk eating?
3. Do you want to lower the amount of sugar you’re eating? Daily or weekly?
4. Do you want to be bloated less often?
5. Do you want to have nicer body results with your physical activities?

Depending on what your goal is, you’ll be able to look for the right diet OR start balancing on what you want to eat and not eat.

• Reward yourself

Give your goals rewards which you cannot have until the goal is done. Put up a reward you really want and will definitely want to work to have it. It can be anything, as long as it gives you a good kick in the butt to achieve what you want.

• Write it down, make a vision board, make reminders, etc.

If you don’t put it in front of your face, you’ll forget about it.

A vision board can also be unclear but it is a really nice & cute way to remind you of your goals daily. Like put X end date in your calendar and put reminders, I don’t know you choose but if you put it in front of your face, it will definitely be harder to ignore.

Also, you have to keep redoing goals throughout the year, once you’ve finished one you start another, if you really want results or change, that’s what it takes. One year is a long time and you’ll be bored if you keep saying ‘’Yea I have to start’’, or just have one unrealisable goal.  

• Read my Motivation post

It will keep you going when you need it most, and bring up your motivation.

Click the link on the subtitle to get to it.

• Don’t let yourself down

People are quick to forget how taking care of themselves is important. That’s the resolution they should have, taking care of themselves more, but again, that’s vague as fuck. Just remember that each time you don’t finish something, it’s like you’re letting it down and you’ll try again next year, but it probably won’t work again, because the time is now. You take care of you NOW. You do what you said you would, NOW.

I hate saying resolutions, because my brain associated it with failure a long time ago. Something big and undoable. Well of course it’s undoable if you don’t even fully believe you can do it, if you doubt or put it so big as if you started a dissertation at 11:45PM knowing it’s due for midnight… We’re humans, of course we’ll say we should start tomorrow because today isn’t right, but where will this take us? On our grave with thousands of other ghost opportunities that never came to life because we never gave them the complete chance to. Is this what you really want? Set yourself goals YOU WANT, not goals that are trending or going around the world because guess what? Putting up goals that you really want, make you happy. Putting up goals you ‘’should’’ have are goals you’ll never achieve, or at least not happily.

Kick yourself in the butt, it was time to start months ago but you were lazy, now do you want to stay that way? Or do you want to be a winner? Trying is winning, starting is winning, putting off is losing. Show up for yourself and what you want even though it’s hard, that’s what a resolution is.

Mwah Mwah