In past years, you may have created a list of New Year’s Resolutions and left it buried away somewhere in your house. Who hasn’t experienced the euphoria of writing down a detailed list of goals or even a few words to reimagine their “perfect life”? In my experience, establishing goals has been beneficial: it pushed me to accomplish them.  It also helps improve mental health and mindfulness while encouraging productivity. 

This year, I’ve learned from past mistakes in making my resolutions. Decreasing the number of items and choosing more believable goals—like starting a new habit, exercising, or reading more—has helped me create more realistic expectations for myself. I used to say I would read a book in two days, or that I would go to the gym five times a week, but when you first start setting objectives, it’s important to understand your limits and know what gets you motivated. Saying that you’ll do something is easy, but actually accomplishing the task? Well, that is a whole other challenge. The most important thing is to take initiative and make a good activity a habit.

My New Year’s Resolutions list currently consists of four items. I have convinced myself that I’ll accomplish every single one, and even though the year barely started, I’ve already failed some of my resolutions,  but I won’t let that discourage me. I promised myself I would start exercising regularly, learn how to skateboard, get my driver’s license, and learn a new language. I had to start somewhere, so I began reading and watching shows in Italian, trying to pronounce some of the words as I went along. My initial plan was to do this regularly at least twice a week, but in all honesty, I have done this once since the beginning of the year. 

Meanwhile, my main goal of getting my driver’s license is another item on my list and one that I have postponed for far too long. Even though I have been trying to accomplish the tasks I set for myself, there are still days when I don’t feel like doing any of them, even my favorite item on the list, but that won’t keep me from accomplishing my goals. I rely on my friends and family to give me motivation, and talking to them about my goals has helped me get closer to achieving them. 

If I can keep up with my goals, you definitely can too. I am not the most organized person, so keeping a list of my objectives has helped me keep up with my school work and personal goals. My advice to keep your New Year’s Resolutions is to take it easy, don’t overwhelm yourself with it, do one thing at a time, and work on the most important items. Also, remember that some things don’t work out and you can modify your goals so that they’re more attainable. The most important thing is to take the opportunity to try new things—that’s my goal, and it’s been working out pretty well.