As many students begin the new year, they reflect on the previous year’s events and wonder would could have been different? This is where New Year’s resolutions come in. Whether it’s two things you’d like to work on or ten, it always seems like a bit of a chore to go through with them. Many become discouraged and can’t seem to find a way to uphold their resolution.

So, how did New Year’s resolutions even start? Well, we discovered that the idea of resolutions dates back to about 4,000 years ago as well as New Year’s celebrations according to History.com. Back then, we weren’t only making resolutions to better ourselves, but also using them to justify bad behavior before the New Year. Whether or not you’re trying to justify bad behavior, there is still the problem of trying to achieve these said resolutions.

1. Use a planner!

This way you can easily write down your goals and plan them out step by step. Let’s say one of your goals was to eat healthier. By using a planner, you can write down what meals you want to eat each day, as well as snacks and times you would prefer to eat. This way all of your thoughts about eating healthier are nicely organized and laid out visually. Sometimes having something fun to write in can help the fact of actually doing it in the first place.

You can easily buy a personalized planner from anywhere like Target or even Amazon. Your planner could also range from your favorite animals, sport, favorite season, or simply your favorite color. You can also get different colored pens to color coordinate, or make it more appealing to just look at. Using a planner can help you feel more excited about going through with your goals.

2. Motivation is key

Keep your head high when you feel like giving up on your resolution. No matter how small or large your goals might be, getting discouraged is a high possibility. You can keep motivated by celebrating your wins at the end of the week. If you read a few pages of a book every day, by the end of the week you can buy yourself a cupcake, or maybe even a new book! By thinking of our accomplishments after pushing ourselves to achieve something, we start automatically making new habits or resolutions a part of our lifestyle. This can also count as a win. Getting into the habit of doing your resolution shows just how hard you have worked at it to get to that point. When you do realize you have reached that point, it can be a huge accomplishment and will motivate you to keep on going and see just how much farther you can go.

3. Plan ahead

Don’t come up with your resolution exactly on New Year’s. Yes, it is called a New Year’s resolution. That’s only to emphasize your new beginnings for the next year. Not to come up with a goal you have only put five minutes of thought into right before midnight. For a resolution to be something you want to accomplish, it has to mean something to you. That’s why it’s better to think beforehand about what you want to work on. If it means nothing, you will not do anything. This year, you might want to stop and think about what you want to do to make it mean something. Planning will also give you a chance to look into the logistics of your resolutions. For example, will you have to put money into them? If so, how much money will you spend? Or how much time are you willing to give up? Are you going to take your resolutions seriously? How important are they? Planning these kinds of things out gives you insight into what it will take to accomplish your resolutions.

4. Always remember, you won’t see a change in just a week or two

It takes time and effort to successfully see a difference in yourself. You have to be patient and remember the only way you’ll see change is through time. You might even have to accept the fact that it might take longer than expected to achieve your resolutions. This is not a race. It is more of a realization for yourself of how well you get things done in the right amount of time. This can be a huge learning experience, on how you do with time and how you could maybe do better. These resolutions are for yourself and no one else so no one is going to notice how fast you accomplish them. Something they might notice is how you are progressing.

So, how are you going to accomplish your resolutions this upcoming year? Whatever it may be, good luck and you can accomplish anything if you set your mind to it and make the effort.