Setting a few goals at the beginning of the year can be life-changing. Not only do New Year’s resolutions bring excitement, but they also bring new opportunities for individuals to grow. Setting these goals allows individuals to guide their actions and improve their lifestyle. They teach individuals persistence, resilience, and the value of planning. “The big big impact is that it teaches them initiative,” Gary Latham stated on CNN Health. Latham is the Secretary of State Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Toronto; he specializes in goal setting.

There are an infinite amount of resolutions for individuals to choose from. Some choose to work on their procrastination, fitness, health, money management, or academics. For students, one of the most common resolutions is for them to work on their time management. This is especially important for them to work on since they are still young and training for when they are older.

“Time management is important because lately, I’ve been slacking off and it would help me keep up with all of my work. It will help me with organization of my own time and will come in handy when I am in college. It helps keep me on track,” states Richard Doan (‘24).

One tip that Latham suggests is making the goal as specific as possible. The more specific the goal, the more achievable it becomes and the individual will feel more courageous to reach it. If the goal is too broad, the individual will not realize whether they are either coming close to it or not. Individuals can do this by breaking their long-term goal into smaller sub-goals.

Popular long-term goals include but are not limited to: become fit, learn a new language, cut out processed foods, volunteer frequently, earn more money, and etc. Sub-goals of these would include: to work out a specific number of times a week, to study the targeted new language a specific number of times a week, to cut out one processed food at a time, to take one day a week to volunteer, to search for a job, etc. Making these sub-goals allows the individual to take small steps at a time to reach their target. It teaches them patience and resilience.

Although setting the goal is an important part of the process, the key is to be consistent with the goal. This is why creating subgoals is also critical to resolutions. Subgoals allow the individual to maximize the margin for success with their resolutions.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?