New Year’s resolutions

As the New Year approaches, this is the time when many people make their New Year’s resolutions. But do resolutions really work?

According to the article Reasons Why We Don’t Achieve New Year’s Resolutions published in Forbes, 80% of people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by mid-February. The reasons are picking non-realistic goals, failing to plan properly, not making the new goal a habit, not having support, or not tracking goals.

For example, many people say that they want to improve their English. But such a resolution is too broad. It’s best if you narrow it down – memorize five new words every week, practice using three sentences with past perfect every day, or practice a different English vowel twice a week. This way you would know exactly what to do and wouldn’t feel overwhelmed.

Also, many people get a little too excited to start something new in the New Year and they tend to come up with too many goals. But having more than a few concrete goals can be overwhelming and may lead to quitting before anything is accomplished. So, while having many resolutions can be invigorating in the short term, it is overwhelming in the long run. Failure to complete a New Year’s resolution can lead to disappointment with yourself, which in turn can make you feel incapable.

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While I’m not a huge fan of broad New Year’s resolutions such as “I will exercise more” or “I will eat healthy”, I think it’s important to have more specific goals. Having concrete goals helps us to measure our accomplishments.

An example of a goal that is too broad and unmeasurable is: “In the New Year I will become fluent in English”. But fluency is hard to measure because it’s a spectrum. Instead, you can say: “In the New Year I will record myself speaking English for two minutes three times a week in the first three months”. Then after these three months you can evaluate how well you have followed through with your goal and adjust accordingly.

It’s very important to be realistic and truthful to yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself, but at the same time be critical and demanding. If you use “I don’t have time” as an excuse, be honest with yourself. Do you really have no time or does your resolution seem too daunting? Do you actually believe that you are capable of achieving your goal? If your goal makes you feel intimidated, ask yourself why. Try to figure out what part of it makes you scared or overwhelmed and adjust it in a way that feels more achievable.

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So, in the dawn of 2023, I invite you to share at least one goal that you hope to accomplish next year when it comes to your English (it doesn’t have to be about English, but I know many people dream about English fluency).

You can use these:

 

In 2023:

I will certainly …

I hope to …

I will finish …

I will stop …

I promise myself to …

 

Fill out at least one of these and share in the comments.

Following through with at least one of your New Year’s resolutions will give you confidence and make you believe more in yourself.

Let me start. I will start a YouTube channel within the first three months of 2023 😀. I’ve wanted to start one for quite a while, so I’m gonna make it happen.

Your turn 😉

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