We’ve all heard the saying ‘New Year, New Me,” as the first of January rolls in. We’ve all made goals and told ourselves that this is the year we will transform ourselves. Now, I’m not saying you can’t. Everyone is capable of improving themselves. What I’m saying is that we tend to make the process a little difficult for ourselves with huge resolutions and empty promises.

Here’s a few ways you can get on the road to actually accomplishing your new year’s goals in 2022:

1. Break It Down
Lofty goals and overarching ideas won’t get you anywhere. For example, Reva Bahuguna (12) told the Hub: “My goal this year is to read 400 books.” That is an ENORMOUS goal. The first thing I would do is break it down into monthly goals. There are 12 months in a year and 400 books to read. 400 divided by 12 is 33.333 books. So that means reading at least 32 books every month, and maybe a few extra during the months where Reva has more time, like summer break. She may even want to break this down in weekly or daily goals if that makes it easier. Remember to keep your goals realistic for your own self and schedule- and don’t be afraid to adjust them.

2. Hold Yourself Accountable
There are multiple ways you can keep track of your goals and also check in with yourself to make sure you’re accomplishing everything you want. Senior Sabrina Portnoy said that she wants to “try to get eight or more hours of sleep a night.” Good thing for Sabrina, there are multiple apps that can help track your sleep! An app that I suggest is ‘Sleep Cycle’: it tracks how many hours you’ve slept, has a ‘Sleep Goal’ feature that helps you get consistent sleep, and also has many other cool features like letting you know if you talk in your sleep or not.
Besides just apps and other online platforms, another way to hold yourself accountable is to tell someone about your goal and have them check in with you consistently. You might want to explain your goal to your parents and talk about your progress monthly. I find that journaling and simply reflecting with your own self is also another helpful method.

3. Reward yourself!
In 2020, my New Year’s Resolution was to write more. I broke down my goals week by week (I even made myself a color-coded calendar!), had my mom check in with me every month, and after every check in, I made myself a special dinner or baked good! I felt even more accomplished and proud of myself when I was rewarded. By the end of the year, I had a short story published in an anthology and was outlining another story. Rewards are also a great way to motivate yourself and give yourself another reason to work towards your goals. They also can be whatever you’d like them to be, a special meal, going to see a movie, buying new clothes, taking a day off, etc. Feel free to have fun and be creative with it 🙂

Now that you have a little more insight on how to accomplish your New Year’s resolutions, don’t be afraid to take risks and step out of your comfort zone. You can do anything when you have a plan and believe in yourself.

Happy New Year!