How to properly make resolutions

So many people don’t make resolutions and it’s always surprised me. I think people coincide resolutions solely with stop doing [blank], rather than the other half of its definition, to resolutely start doing something. Maybe it’s the pressure of starting new in January, a cold season where all you want to do is stay warm and cozy, resting as much as possible.

Whatever your reason, I think yearly goals are a great way to to keep yourself on track with how you want you life to be like. Only you can change your life and design the lifestyle you desire. Even if you’re big on manifesting, after thinking about what you want, you need to make concrete steps into action to get what you want.

When making goals, it’s good to separate them into separate categories: health, finances, career, fun life goals, as well as having a mix of big and small goals so that your list feels attainable.

For instance, a health goal as broad as ‘be healthier’ can so vague it’s easy to fall off the wagon. But having specific mini goals under that broad goal helps you keep in check. See below for an example:

Be healthier by:

• Working out 3x a week (bigger goal)
• Improve posture (smaller goal)

You can then manage these goals by directly stating how you’ll do this, or giving yourself hints such as:

• Work out 3x a week (either gym, walking, or at home workouts or yoga class)
• Improve posture (fix posture when noticing poor stature + do 5 minute posture exercises every night before bed).

When you have a daily or weekly checklist, you can check off these two goals every time you complete them: and at the end of the year, you’ll be able to see how often you did these goals! These are continuous goals, so if you notice by the end of the year you did these goals 75% from the entire year, your next year’s goal can be the same but you try to do it more often, say to 80% of days being filled with these accomplishments.

You should always have a health related goal as well as a finance goal. The health goal will better your body while your financial goal will almost always be to save money, especially for something specific (school, car, house, retirement, trip, etc.) or to make more money (job hopping, investing, side gig, etc.). Have a number that’s realistic to your current salary so that you aren’t physically unable to save.

Finally, always have a fun goal – whether it’s to try a new sport or hobby, read a certain amount of books or travel to a specific place, the fun goal will be something you can look back on to show you actually enjoyed this life!

I won’t lie, 2025 is already proving to be difficult discipline-wise for yours truly – I may have actually burned myself out last year?!?! Either that or the stress of planning half a dozen big ticket items this year makes me want to curl up in a ball with a glass of wine. But as long as I’m doing the best I can with the mental capacity I have, I can’t complain. I hope no matter what your goals are you also give yourself grace and are proud of your daily, tiny accomplishments – these are the small bricks that build the dream.