Rylie Horrall  | Lifestyle Editor

When the end of the year rolls around, many people decide to create resolutions for the new year, whether it’s fun goals to accomplish or ways to improve the way someone is currently living. A potential problem that arises from these resolutions is accidentally or intentionally dropping them not long after declaring them. Here are some tips to try and help stay on top of those New Year’s resolutions.

A simple fix that seems to be trending is to invest in a planner; not only could that assist in planning out resolutions in general, but it can also help with staying on track for the future. By using the planner, goals can be set for each day, week or month — depending on the goal itself and how often someone feels they need to be doing it.

Alternatively, merely writing down aspirations for the new year can be effective. By creating a checklist, goals can be tracked and marked off with ease. Writing down resolutions in a notebook is a simple way to do this, or even inputting them into a checklist style note on a smartphone. A fun way to keep track of resolutions is to write each individual goal on a sticky note and place them somewhere that will be seen every day. For instance, the sticky notes can be placed on the wall, the door to the bedroom, around a mirror or miscellaneously placed across the surface of a desk.

Setting reminders on a smartphone can also be beneficial to those struggling to maintain new year objectives. By going into the calendar app, an event can be set up on a day of the person’s choosing, and it can be set to repeat whenever and however long is desired. This way, a person can check their progress each day, week or month, or it can be simply a way to remember while the resolution is still fresh and potentially forgettable.

Lastly, tell family and friends about any New Year’s resolutions so they can assist in the process of keeping them. They can provide support and encouragement when first starting out, or if a goal starts to become particularly challenging. They can serve as a pep squad of sorts to make the process of completing the objective easier, or even help with completing the goal by actively encouraging, which in turn can make the activity more enjoyable as a whole. 

A final thing to keep in mind is that it’s okay to fall behind on resolutions; things can happen in life that alter plans previously made, but anyone can pick themselves back up where they left off.

Contact the author at rhorrall17@wou.edu