By: Anna Hisle and Lizzy Woxland

New Year’s resolutions are a very good way to find some motivation to help better yourself. With 2021 beginning, here is a list of some uplifting New Year’s resolutions we think you should try and how they benefit you.

Why you should make a resolution?

Making New Year’s resolutions are sometimes looked at as a “waste of time” but we believe that New Year’s resolutions are a good way to find motivation to help better yourself and others.

It’s important that you set yourself a New Year’s resolution to help you become the person you know you can be. Setting a few resolutions helps you focus and reflect on what’s important to you and your life, help clear your mind, and focus on who you want to become.

Recently, with how things have changed, it’s really hard to find motivation to do anything, especially new challenges. We believe that setting some positive and uplifting resolutions will help gain motivation and help in these difficult times.

Setting goals/resolutions can also improve your mental health greatly. By doing something and sticking to it, it creates routine. A routine in your life will let you be more positive knowing that you have something you enjoy doing or something you want to do.

Your resolution will also improve your mental health when you complete milestones within the resolution. You will feel more positive as you see more progress.

Ways to stick to your goals

One thing that has help us with sticking to goals is consistency. Being consistent with your goals is one of the hardest yet most important tricks in sticking with your goals.

Be consistent even when you dont feel motivated. If you only work on your goals when you feel motivated you won’t get much progress if any. But, if you work on your goals even on the days where you don’t want to do anything, that’s when you see progress and change.

Another way to stick with your goals is to write them down. When you write down your goals, you are way more likely to stick to them. Writing down your goals will create  a vision in your head of what you want to work towards.

When you visualize your goals and write them down it helps create a change in the way we act and gives us more direction.

Taking breaks also helps you stick to goals. Occasionally you have to step back and take a break. Growth happens over time, and if you’re too obsessive about one thing, it can lead to unhealthy habits.

Even just taking a one day break can be great for your mental health and goals. When you step away, you can come back and have a refreshed mindset.

Ideas for healthy goals for the new year:

-Make more time for the things you love

During times like these it’s super easy to get caught up in feeling like everyday is the same. When you take time each day (could be just 10 minutes) to do something that makes you happy, it will raise your mood and can make you excited for new things.

An example of this could be skateboarding, drawing, journaling, running, ect. Setting time aside for yourself each day is something that everyone should try and do.

-Try going out of your comfort zone:

This is something that is very important. Right now nothing feels comfortable so now more than ever, it’s time to learn how to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. This could be as small as taking cold showers or going on runs. Both of those things push you out of your comfort zone. Doing those consistently will lead to growth in your mental strength.

-Less screen time/social media

During quarantine, it might’ve been hard to not be on an electronic or be productive. Now, in the new year, it might be time to explore more things not on your screen. Going on walks, studying, or even just spending time with friends or family is a great way to not be on electronics.

Being more productive without electronics not only will improve your mental health but it will also let you feel less stressed now that you don’t have social media around you all the time.

-Exercise more

As the new year begins, one of the most common goals is to lose weight/workout. While this goal is one of the most common ones, it is also one of the ones that is least followed through.

Instead of working out to look good for someone else, workout to look good for you!

Exercising relieves stress as well as increases dopamine, endorphins, and adrenaline which will make you happier.