Talecia Bell

He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, he’s going to find out who’s depressed about life … new year’s resolutions are coming to town.

In the wake of the holiday season, December usually marks the time of the year that most people are assessing their lives and preparing positive resolutions.

Although identifying areas within your life that need improvement and setting goals is important, do not overanalyze and create extensive lists of unachievable resolutions. It may leave you feeling gloomy.

Psychology professor Kelly Cotter said setting too many resolutions will not be very effective and can lead to negative behavior.

“Setting too many unreachable goals concerns me because if you are unsuccessful at one goal, you are more likely to give up on all the others,” Cotter said. “Focusing on one or two main goals is much more effective and leads to better health and self-efficacy.”

When we succeed in achieving our goals, we are more confident in our ability to accomplish things and are therefore more likely to succeed at larger goals in the future.

This year, rather than coming up with big resolutions, I chose to set several short-term goals: lose the extra 30 pounds I gained this year, lead a healthier lifestyle and be more family-oriented.

How will I accomplish all this in just one short year? Truthfully, I do not see myself being able to accomplish them, as they stand right now. They are too broad.

Kalyn Coppedge, health educator at the Student Health Center, said being more specific when setting your goals well help you to be more successful in accomplishing them.

“Keeping it simple and being specific in setting your goals will make them more easily integrable into your life,” Coppedge said.

Take my resolution goals for example: Saying I want to lose 30 pounds does not explain how I will accomplish this. Instead of saying, “I want to lose 30 pounds,” I could be more specific and say, “I will eat a healthy breakfast every day.”

In turn, I have the direction I need to ultimately accomplish my goal to lower my weight by the end of the year.

Also, instead of saying, “I will live a healthier lifestyle,” I could specify this goal by saying, “I will drink a glass of water with every meal.” This also provides me with the direction I need to succeed in living healthy throughout the year.

Lastly, rather than saying, “I will be more family oriented,” I could set a more specific goal such as “coordinating family night once a week.”

Oftentimes, identifying what our goals are may seem easy; however, the hardest part is tackling these goals.

Instead of trying to achieve one huge goal, strive to achieve smaller goals that will lead you there eventually. Start the new year off with a plan that will actually work.

Talecia Bell can be reached at [email protected].