Youth must be one of the most confusing states ever. One day someone is a student full of energy doing every activity under the sky, and the next day they're expected to work to pay bills, take responsibility, and start saving for the future. And just like that, with 2022 knocking right at the door, another year has come to its end. It's just about time to look at potential new year resolutions- and see how to be consistent with them.
What could be one's ideal goals largely depends on the individual and what s/he wants out of their life. Regardless of which stage of life one is dwindling in - student life, job life, searching for a job, or just taking a chill time off, there are some aspects of resolutions everyone should ideally keep in mind. The first point on the checklist could be one's health. Health, both physical and mental, is the most valuable asset one can possess. Whether it's wanting to reach some specific fitness goal, simply committing to exercising regularly, visiting a therapist--the specifics can be customised according to individual needs.
An important aspect for the youth is to set financial resolutions. This could involve gaining financial literacy, curating a well-planned expenditure, setting financial earning goals, or simply keeping track of where one spends most of their money. All of these will help a person become more responsible. Intangible goals can also be included in the resolutions, such as habits that build personality, building meaningful connections, committing to becoming a sincere learner, learning how to divide and manage time better, and so on.
According to researchers, more than half the resolutions people take on new year's don't make it past January. There are some strategies to keep in mind for stopping that from happening. Instead of planning for the entire year at once, it might be helpful to set meticulous quarterly goals and leave the remaining quarters flexible. Another fundamental feature of being consistent is quantifying one's progress.
According to Abdul Mohaimen Al Radi who studies computer science and engineering at the University of Dhaka, "There is no hope for a resolution if there is no way to quantify progress. Saying I want to run more this year is very silly. Instead, I like to fix how many days I want to run this year. Say running 150 days is my goal this year. When I quantify my goals, I can keep track of them using a simple Excel sheet. It helps me visualise exactly how much I want to progress or what my benchmark is."
Many people make resolutions, yet very few can follow through. While setting the goals, it needs to be ensured that they are SMART-- small, achievable, measurable, realistic, and timely. Most people's Achilles heel is their habit of procrastination. Building micro habits can help in the journey to become consistent with fulfilling a goal. Micro habits are small steps that one takes to build a greater habit. For example, in terms of health goals, it is much easier to divide the habit into small habits like setting the target to drink two glasses of water as soon as waking up or even choosing to use glass water bottles instead of plastic ones if one wants to become more environmentally conscious. Besides, it is crucial to get rid of the thought that if one fails to follow through for one day then the strike is broken. Humans are to error, and leaving room for forgiveness is paramount to holding on. Instead of giving up one needs to make it up as soon as possible.
Every individual is unique with different expectations from life, so are their resolutions. While many students will have to figure out ways to refocus after long breaks from their studies, others will be preparing for job interviews while some will try to settle into the realities of the hectic job life. What matters while determining one's goals is that they find out what matters the most to them in the coming days, and how they plan to achieve that.
May everyone have a happy new year!
The writer is a sophomore at IBA (DU).
ipshitamrahman@gmail.com