We can do better with our New Year’s Resolutions, people!

Truth is, we never commit to New Year’s resolutions because they’re far too long-term and impractical. It’s as if you sign up for a marathon but you’ve never ran a single day in your life, so you’re winded before you even finish the first half mile. Yes, you should set a long term goal that you know is REACHABLE if you invest the time and effort into it. But to approach this long term goal, develop short term goals first. Short term goals eventually turn to healthy habits that become a part of you. Embodying these habits will allow you to accomplish these long-term ambitions.

Keeping up with this marathon analogy, you can start out practicing by running half a mile each day. Over the course of, say, two weeks, increase your mileage to one mile, then two miles, then more! Not to mention keeping up with eating nutrient-packed foods and getting lots of rest.

In light of the New Year, I’ve come up with a list of random (but important, I hope) tips that fall under 4 overarching ideas. Keep in mind that short-term and long-term goal approach. I hope you take these tips and ideas into some serious consideration!

Be good to your body.

Exercise every day. What!! Every day? Yes! You can always make time for a little exercise! If you have time to check social media 3829473829 times a day, you definitely have time for at least 10 minutes of daily exercise.

Make a daily habit to get in 10-30 minutes of exercise. You don’t need any equipment to exercise; doing a handful jumping jacks, planks, and sit ups before or after school is sufficient.

If you’re really desperate, multitask! Do squats in front of the TV.

Eat your vegetables and your whole grains.

Chuck your holiday chocolate and cookies! Or give them to other people.

Sleep.

Remember: your mindset is important. Don’t keep thinking about the long term, of how you want to get a “summer body.” Exercise because that is who you are.

Be good to your mind.

Let’s be real: we are living, breathing humans, not robots. Sometimes we need time to wind down and take breaks.

What kind of breaks? Not ones that involve social media! Seeing glamoured photos of your peers and of celebrities will just make you more stressed out.

Go for a jog. Read a book. Meditate. Do some yoga. These methods of relaxation will help you calm down and clear your mind.

Don’t make excuses.

Excuses are a sign of weakness! They prevent us from growing physically and mentally.

Never think you can’t do something because you were “born that way.” This excuse shows laziness and a fixed mindset. Yes, successful people may have talent. Yes, they may also have some luck. But to be truly successful, you need to invest quality time and energy into your efforts. Don’t worry—it may take time, but your efforts will eventually show.

Have a transformative purpose.

A transformative purpose is a far-fetched and seemingly unreachable goal that you want to achieve. It’s something that should motivate you and propel you to get through each day.

Remember not to think of your transformative purpose as a whole; it will seem too overwhelming.

Think of it as a huge boulder, and you have to keep chipping at it every day.

Don’t be afraid of failure. It doesn’t matter if you fall down 99 times. It matters that you get up 100 times.

No one benefits from the things you could have achieved. Make your dreams come true!

 

And that’s a wrap. Bring it on, 2018.

~~Katie