It’s that time of the year again – no, I’m not talking about Christmas. We’re only about a week and a half away from the new year, and it’s the season where many of us find ourselves looking back on the past year while thinking about the upcoming one. You can hardly run away from the tradition of writing New Year’s resolutions, whose popularity has resurged in the last few years. It is a means of setting new goals that are meaningful and achievable – and that is the essence of crafting good resolutions. Here are some tips that you can think about as you welcome the New Year with a blasting resolution:

Reflecting on the past year: for a goal to be meaningful and realistic, take some time to think about what went well and not-so-well in the last year. This can give you valuable insight as to how to work around your strengths and weaknesses such that your resolutions are crafted in a way to set yourself up for success. Let’s say, I was struggling with my goal of reading at least a book every week due to the new workload that I had as an exchange student. I’d then want to set a more realistic goal of trying to finish a book every two weeks instead, after thinking about my current experience with the study abroad programme.

Specificity is key: I used to give myself the greatest leeway in resolution-setting by making my goal statement as broad as possible. Despite this wiggle room, I have realised that setting more specific goals might help one get to their desired outcome faster. For instance, instead of broad statements like “I will control my weight in 2024”, be precise in stating a concrete roadmap to success, such as “I will be more aware of my diet and exercise routine to ensure that my body weight hovers between a healthy range of XX kg to YY kg”. Beyond the goal statement itself, you can also think about your action plan – how are you going to work towards achieving this goal? This makes measuring one’s progress effective and helps us focus on a specific goal.

Prioritising your resolutions: many of us have a long laundry list of what we would like to do in the New Year. However, spreading oneself too thin can erode our capability to really achieve these goals. Instead, think about what means the most to you this coming year based on the relative importance of these action items and consider working on them more in 2024. It is more likely that you’re driven by the few objectives that align the most with your aspirations, than an extensive list of goals that you do not necessarily feel strongly about.

Remembering to breathe: the world is not over just because you realised that you cannot fulfil one of your resolutions. It is always okay to re-evaluate your goals and resolutions throughout the year in a fashion that allows you some breathing room to think about your next step. Being flexible does not entail abandoning your goal, but perhaps it is a way for you to open yourself up to new or alternative routes to achieving that goal with the means that you have.

I think that the most meaningful part of writing a New Year’s resolution is the fact that it drives in the message: the process is as important as the outcome. What matters in a good New Year’s resolution is your own reflection of who you are and what you would want to be in the upcoming year and is truly a journey of self-discovery too. Here’s to a whole year of growth, and I hope you achieve your dreams and aspirations in 2024!