New Years’ Resolutions: The Start of a New Decade

2020. Wow. It’s hard to believe that a new decade is upon us, a turn of the clock that marks the hundred-year anniversary of the roaring ‘20’s. The year is predicted to be full of interesting events, as the upcoming presidential elections in the US will take place in the fall. The Olympics will be in Tokyo, Japan this year, NASA is planning on launching a new rover to Mars, and who knows what else will happen?

One thing many people do at the beginning of the New Year is to make New Year’s Resolutions. Some people stick with them, others try and falters, and there are some who make resolutions whenever they want.

Some common goals people have include improving health, whether it’s by exercising regularly, eating better, prioritizing sleep, or practicing more self-care. Other goals could be financial, like getter a raise, out of debt, paying off student loans. Some people make decide to focus more on their relationships and improve connections between family, friends, and significant others. Even things like trying to do at least one act of kindness a day, saying hello to more people, sitting with that guy at school or work who seems to be lonely, anything to brighten the day of another. Goals to help the environment could include carpooling, using less single-use plastics, recycling, starting an at-home compost, gardening, and taking shorter showers. There are lots of options to pick from if you want to make a list of things you’d like to accomplish within the next year.

Looking back at previous years, a few goals I’ve had in the past that actually worked and I still practice include going vegetarian, running regularly, being more spontaneous, journaling, and trying to do something kind for other people when the opportunity presents itself.

Some goals that I didn’t stick with include mediating regularly (though I do want to try this again), taking a photo everyday (that one lasted for a couple months), writing regularly (do lab reports count?), and going on social media/the internet/videos/etc for thirty minutes or less a day (alas it’s often more but I do try be on my phone for less~ than an hour each day).

For this next year, I thought I’d challenge myself and make a list of 20 Goals for 2020. A few of these goals are year-long and will require quite a bit of work and effort, others may focus around one event, a few a continuation of previous goals, and a couple just for fun.

1. Have as many adventures as I can.

2. Say “yes” to new opportunities…but remember to say “no” if you need to rest or if it’s too far out of your comfort zone.

3. Have fun.

4. Laugh often and unconditionally

5. Try not to overthink things…should I put this in?

6. Approach more people and say hi, ask to join them for lunch, and so on.

7. Practice better self-care. Sorry coffee, sleep is saying “me first”.

8. Mediate more often. Even if it’s a few minutes a day, take a moment and pause. A woman I really admire told me once that “if nothing else, you always have your breath. Remember to breathe. If you get really stressed out, just stop what you’re doing and breathe.”

9. Try to find balance…figuratively and literally, when doing yoga I would like to not fall down when I’m attempting the tree pose.

10. Overcome some health issues.

11. Compete in a full triathlon.

12. Create more, consume less.

13. Je veux practiquer mon français.

14. Be more patient. You don’t have to do everything at once.

15. Be more compassionate and understanding, you don’t know what kind of day the other person has had let alone what they’ve gone through in their life.

16. Be more articulate.

17. Dance more. (Like I said in a previous post, I’m addicted to contradances now.)

18. Be fully present more often. Stop and appreciate the moment. Time goes by so fast, take a second to really take in what is happening.

19. Don’t be afraid of staying in when you need to re-coup. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is real and it can hit hard, especially in college when you’re surrounded by people who seem to be living their best lives, who are going out and having fun every night. Sometimes though what you really need is to study for that Chem. test, have a cup of tea, play some music, and go to bed early ready to take on the next day.

20. Be kind. To others, to the earth, and most importantly, to yourself.

I hope you got some inspiration from reading this post, let me know in the comments what some of your New Year’s Resolutions are, or if you do them at all.