Having a New Year’s resolution is not uncommon for most people. The MSA recently asked Mohawk students what their resolutions were. The following lists highlights the most common responses:

1. Do well in School 

2. Work out and eat healthy

3. Be Successful

4. Be Happy

5. Make Money

It’s no surprise that the two most popular New Year’s resolutions surround academics and a healthier lifestyle. A lot of these goals are quite popular for individuals each year, but as the year goes on it’s quite easy to lose track of your resolutions. Let’s look a few tips you can follow to achieve your New Year’s resolutions.  

Set SMART Goals

It’s important to set realistic goals for yourself at the beginning of the year. Better yet, set SMART goals for yourself. Make sure what you want to accomplish is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time bound.

For example, if you want to ‘work out more’ set a more specific goal: “My goal is to use the Mohawk College gym for two hours every Monday and Friday from Jan 13 – April 13, 2020.” Individuals need to take into consideration how busy their upcoming schedule is going to be, and set realistic goals surrounding their availability.

If you’re setting a goal to go to the gym five times a week, that may not be realistic for a full-time student who also has a part time job. Set a minimum goal and you can always exceed it when you have extra time. 

Create a Plan

If you come across the fear that you won’t stick to your goals, try finding a partner in crime. Take the gym for example, if you want to go to the gym twice a week, sometimes it’s easier to find a gym buddy with the same goal so you can both motive each other. The Mohawk gym also offers a variety of different fitness classes such as: boot camp, HITT training, spin class, yoga etc. The schedule for each class remains consistent throughout the semester (except during exams and reading week). Pick one or two classes that you’re going to dedicate your time to attending each week if working out alone is not your thing. 

If your goal is to be more ‘happy,’ try surrounding yourself with more positive people. You can also create an exercise plan. Exercise releases dopamine which is a neurotransmitter inside your brain that affects pleasure and happiness. If you don’t want to go to the gym, try going for a walk when you are stressed out or feeling down.

Don’t Quit When the Going Gets Tough 

If you break your goal, acknowledge it and continue attempting to pursue it. This is commonly seen among individuals who want to eat healthier.  If you’re trying to eat healthy, it’s important to implement portion control. You don’t need to cut out all of your favourite foods, just control how much of them you are eating. You would also be surprised at how many healthy alternatives they offer for some of your favourite foods. 

A common mistake people make when breaking their diets is just giving up all together. If you happen to break your diet, don’t be discouraged and continue to increase your efforts towards eating healthy. Don’t let one mistake ruin your entire goal.

The same lesson can be applied to course work. If you didn’t do well on an assignment, don’t just ignore it. Ask for feedback so you will know how to improve and pull your grades up moving forward. 

Educate Yourself 

There is no such thing as too much education. If you are serious about your new year’s resolutions, educate yourself on them. If your goal is to be successful, or make money, read about how successful individuals have made it big.

Another place to start could be learning about the habits of successful people. If you have a mentor or someone you aspire to be like in your vicinity, try reaching out to them and having a conversation. 

Have you been sticking to your New Year’s resolutions so far? If your answer is no, try implementing some of these tactics to get back on track.

Good luck Mohawk!

By Olivia Santucci

Student Digital Content Writer