New Year’s resolutions! New year, new you! It’s no secret that this is a time of year when the idea of getting things done is everywhere. And yet, even if we have things we want to do, it can be really easy to just let each day slide by, saying we will work on those things tomorrow or next week. I myself am very guilty of this. I so often find myself resolving to make changes, whether those changes are to get to sleep earlier, watch less TV, eat healthier, show up on time, or whatever else. And then, after some time has gone by, I realize that I didn’t really stick to whatever goal I had made - at all. But they say that one thing that can help with sticking to goals is to share them with others, so that you feel more accountable to those outcomes. And so, I would like to share some of the things I hope to accomplish or change, as well as some of the techniques I plan to use in that process. If you, too have had trouble with keeping to goals and plans, know that you are not alone!
1. Sleep. This is a big one for me. I have a really bad habit of staying up way too late, usually watching TV. I then either wake up late or wake up really tired, and if I had to guess, this tiredness then contributes to poor decision making when it comes to heading to bed the next night, and I just end up staying up late again. One thing that I have found helpful in holding myself accountable is writing things down. If I know I will have to write down whether or not I have done something, I am a lot more likely to do it. And so I am going to start a chart (or perhaps a section in a bullet journal) to keep track of what time I go to bed every night and what time I get up every morning. Fingers crossed!
Main Strategy: Documentation for Accountability
2. Eating vegan. Don’t worry, I won’t annoy you and try to get you to do the same.I have been a vegetarian for a number of years now, and animal welfare is very important to me, and so I feel that it is time I really put my money where my mouth is and go completely (or at least 95%) vegan. I have already been taking steps toward this, such as replacing milk in my coffee and cereal with soy or almond milk. But I think that in really going for this goal, the key strategy for me will be planning ahead. I can stock my fridge and pantry with vegan options, and take snacks with me when I go places (finding vegan fare at drive-throughs can be next to impossible). I will also, when faced with things like pizza, do my best to remind myself of why I am avoiding animal products in the first place.
Main Strategies: Planning Ahead and Remembering My Reasoning
3. Getting places on time. For nearly as long as I can remember, I have been late to pretty much everything. School. Sports practices. Work. Plans with friends. Picking up siblings. And so on. I am aware that it annoys the people around me, especially those who have to put up with it on a regular basis. In college, my crew coach told me I was no longer aloud to sleep in my own house on nights before races, but rather that I would need to sleep on a teammate’s couch so there would be someone to make sure I woke up and was on time. And he wasn’t wrong to mandate this. There are also times when I’m late not because I woke up late, but just because I don’t plan time well for getting ready and traveling. My point is, this is a persistent problem. A large part of reaching my goal of getting places on time consistently will depend on my sleep goal, but a lot of it will also depend on me planning better and getting ready ahead of time. To work on this, I am planning to: a) Thoroughly go over travel time ahead of time and make a realistic plan for when I will need to leave, and b) Only let myself get coffee on the way to my destination if I have left at least five minutes ahead of the realistic time that I had decided on.
Main Strategies: Planning Ahead and Designating Rewards
Thank you for reading! Do you have any goals you are looking to achieve, or changes that you are looking to make? Any strategies you have found useful in the past? Let us know in the comments!
