This blog will highlight a few tips on how you can stick to your resolutions for the year.
Author: Ameera Abdalla
Every January, our social media feeds are flooded with motivational quotes on starting the new year on the right foot. Personally, I think there’s too much pressure on getting your entire life perfect, and as a result, so many of our resolutions end up falling flat on their face. Good news though - it doesn’t have to be this way. For instance, one of my own 2023 goals was to become more involved here at Telfer, and so when BHS posted about exec member applications, I took the opportunity to apply. Here I am today as the club's Director of Internal sharing advice to like-minded individuals like you! So in honour of the month of resolutions, I’d like to give you some tips to stick to your own goals for 2024.
An aside - if you'd like to become more involved in the Telfer community like I did, keep an eye out for our 2024/2025 applications because they'll be coming out in a couple of months!
Set realistic goals
As wonderful as it would be to wish all our grand dreams into existence, we have to be realistic about our goals. As such, when setting a goal for yourself don't aim unreasonably high, and ensure you are making goals you can stick to.
For instance, let’s say one of your goals is to become more active this year, and you decide running is a good way to do this. As you set a goal, please don’t start with a resolution of running 15 kilometers everyday (an aside - if this is a reasonable goal for you - please consider trying out for the Olympics).
For all our normal people, setting a goal to run 15 minutes each day is much more attainable. Keep in mind that in the long-run, going for a 15-minute run each day and sticking to it will have countless health benefits. On the other hand, trying to run 15 kilometers on Day 1 and giving up halfway through will have a total of 0 health benefits in the long-run.
Seek Support
Being motivated is hard, but being motivated alone is even harder. Having someone commit to the same resolution or even just hold you accountable can make a world of a difference when it comes to setting goals for yourself. Have a resolution in mind? See if you can find a family member or friend to join in.
Consistency is key
Read that again. Consistency for long enough becomes a habit, and a habit for long enough becomes routine. The goal here (see what I did there) is to make your resolutions a part of your everyday routine. You really want to automate that decision-making. Instead of waking up in the morning and thinking “should I go on a run today”, you’re immediately putting on your workout clothes instead. Working towards your goals should be a constant in your life, and sticking to them is much easier after those first two weeks.
With that being said, I hope these three tips help you achieve your own resolutions. Personally, a resolution I’m striving towards is to be more grateful. I realized this would be a good idea after my friend and I had managed to complain about the weather, commute, workload, and a ton of other things in a 5 minute phone call. As such, I’m focussing on being more grateful for well - everything.
As you deliberate your 2024 resolutions, my final tip is to consider making it a goal to attend all of our amazing upcoming BHS events (I know I’m so unbiased).
As always, make sure to follow us on social media to learn more and engage with our club!