As the sun rises on New Year’s Day, it’s time to put those resolutions to work. Whether it be to become a better person, exercise every day or procrastinate less, it’s going to be challenging at first.
The new year calls for fresh starts and beginnings. With a clean slate, what better way than to start off already achieving your goals. Although it is easier said than done, to ensure those resolutions last more than a week try adding an incentive, doing it with a friend or setting some reminders to keep you going.
Besides the actual resolution being an incentive itself, if you start feeling the loss of motivation like we all have at some point, try making it more of a wager. You can place bets with friends or family involving money or a prize that the winner who continues their resolution the longest will receive. This will work well with people who are competitive and can’t bear to lose to others or themselves. Another incentive could be just the satisfaction of knowing you made it through the year sticking to a resolution that most people would give up on.
Carrying out your resolution with a friend can make it easier knowing you aren’t in it alone. You can motivate each other to keep going and work together to complete your goals. It can also be done in a friendly competition to encourage each other to continue and not let the other one beat you. Not every resolution has to be involved with a competition but to drive you to keep going, having a companion to push you makes it easier. “I’m going to surround myself with people who are determined so I stay determined too,” junior Soraya Abediyeh said.
Whether it’s with reminders on your phone that go off every day, or hour or even sticky notes posted in your room, setting reminders is a simple yet constant way to keep your resolution. “I placed a reminder in my phone because I know I’ll see it everyday and it’ll keep popping up everyday, which will motivate me to complete my resolution,” sophomore Jesse Alkon said.
Placing notes either around the house or somewhere you’ll look every day will remind you to stick to it. Though tedious, the more reminders set, the more likely you are to remember and be encouraged to continue what you started. You can also post motivational notes in places you’ll look everyday to persuade yourself to keep up the good work. “I do journaling and do a daily pray about sticking to what I set out to do. My family does resolutions too and we all encourage each other and we celebrate afterwards,” art teacher Unsil Kim said.
Ava Castelli
Staff Writer
