Every year around December, people start talking about New Years’ Resolutions. I find it kind of annoying. However, I understand that people want to better themselves and that they feel a new year is the best time to start something. I also know that most of the time it’s bullshit.
People get all nostalgic and feely around the holidays (for good reason) and that leads them to thinking they need to change their whole life to get back to some better time or better them. While I can understand trying to be a better you, I don’t believe you should try to be an old version of yourself again. You have progressed past that, whether the progressions are good or bad, and have to move forward to a new you.
Before we get to the resolutions many make and don’t keep, let’s talk about why we don’t keep resolutions.
First off, many people make some huge resolution that they can honestly never dream of keeping. Saying “I’m going to eat healthier” but not being specific or realistic about it doesn’t work. Don’t suddenly start eating kale and drinking smoothies for every meal because that will get old fast and those cravings you are suppressing will eventually win.
Second, people know what they want to do, but don’t actually have a reason why they want to do it. Sure eating healthier sounds good, but without a strong basis as to why you want to your brain will eventually ask, “what’s the point?” and you won’t continue.
Another reason is people are in a hurry to fulfill this resolution and don’t have the patience to do it correctly. Yes, eating healthier is good for you. But jumping face first doesn’t work for most people. Change small things gradually – maybe 1 thing a week. Otherwise it gets overwhelming and feels impossible and we quit. We also forget to look at our progress and see what we have accomplished.
Instead, we see what we didn’t accomplish and that de-motivates us.
The last reason I have is probably the most important step in attaining the end game: support. You need people to help support you. We crave motivation and positivity. We want someone to tell us we are doing a great job, that we can complete this, that we’ve come so far and can finish!
With that in mind, it’s obvious what one of my 10 most common resolutions is that no one keeps, but here they all are:
- Eating healthier
- Exercise more.
- Save money.
- Make new friends.
- Live in the now.
- Find a new job.
- Spend more time on hobbies.
- Clean out the junk in the house.
- Have a better love life.
- Help others more.
All of these are great resolutions, if done correctly. But, recently, VanriTheRogue told me she preferred to call her New Year’s Resolutions “goals” and I think that is a much better mindset.
We know we have to work to obtain goals. With resolutions, we think it will just flip a switch and change. All of the above are attainable if you are specific about what you want to change, make slow progress towards completing it, have people to help you, and make sure that you track your progress to see how far you have come.
With that in mind, a few of our Real Women of Gaming family have graced me with their goals for the year. And I’d like to say a few things about them:
- VanriTheRogue – Her biggest goal for this year is to finish her book. She also wants to be healthier to improve her health and read more books to improve her mind! She had success with her goal this past year – she wanted to have 1000 followers on Mixer. She attained this by trying to keep to a schedule, networking with other creators, and making sure to have fun with it. Great job!
- SaltyHylian – He wants to reach at least 500 followers this year and stick to a schedule for streaming.
- LadyJoCrawfX9 – She wants to lose 30 pounds, double her savings, reach 300 followers, and stream more (on schedule!).
- Azkadelya (me) – I want to continue to cook more at home and eat out less. It saves money, calories, and I really do love trying new recipes. I’ve failed on this the past few weeks with the holidays and I miss it. I also want to be more active. I don’t know yet what this means, but even if it’s going outside to play with the dogs more, parking farther from the door at the store, or whatever, I am gonna get off my butt a bit more! As far as streaming goals, I don’t have a number in mind because I know it all depends on my internet, but I would like to stream more and be consistent about it (which will get better once PAX South is over).
If we all support each other, these are absolutely obtainable!
I wish you all an amazing 2019 and good luck with whatever goals you see fit to choose to set. Remember to be specific, don’t overreach, get support, and track that progress. If you have ever completed a difficult goal before, then you know when you get about halfway it can get harder. Being able to look back and see all the progress you made can give you that extra burst to keep going!
Here’s a toast to a better year than we had in 2018, to our family, friends, and ourselves. We’ve made it this far and we can attain our goals this year!
