Boxes, image by Jigar Panchai
December 27, 2023
Some tips on writing your plans for 2024
Writing Your New Year’s Resolutions
New year is getting closer and people often use this occasion to write their goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. While some might think that these resolutions are pointless, I found them useful as they act as a guideline towards my even-longer goals, constantly reminding me to make small adjustments here and there.
For those of you who struggle to write your resolutions, here are 3 tips that I’ve found working for me:
1. Don’t let your goals depend on someone else
There are many factors that come into play when determining our success and some things, unfortunately, are out of our reach. This goes hand-in-hand with the famous quote of stoicism that tells us to focus on the things that we can control.
I learnt the hard way that you shouldn’t let others determine the success of your resolutions. Perhaps, instead of making college admission, job promotions, or relationships the main focus of our resolution, we should look deeper on what the criteria of an ideal candidate are and strive towards such traits.
2. Use numbers and write down your steps
One popular tip from the ubiquitous SMART framework is to make your goal measurable, and I couldn’t agree more. I found using numbers to track your progress helps to gamify the whole experience.
In addition, don't stop at “I want to save $10,000 by the end of the year”. Instead, continue with “To do so, I should …”.
3. Motivation doesn’t last
You might be on fire right now as you imagine all the live changing habits that you will start next year. However, only a handful will sustain such drastic changes in their lifestyle.
Instead, you might consider integrating your plan to your daily routine. If you plan to move more, take the stairs instead of the escalator. If you plan to read more, replace streaming videos on YouTube with reading some e-books during the time you commute with public transport.
Writing your new year’s resolutions can be tricky, but I hope that these tips help you! I made this blog as my commitment to one of my 2023 resolutions, that is, to build 3 meaningful projects with the things that I’ve learnt :)