As we hit mid-January, the pressure of Winter term is starting to settle in, and the enthusiastic New Year’s resolutions we all set two weeks ago have already begun to collide with the reality of everyday life. For many, the demands of stressful majors and overwhelming assignments have taken center stage, causing goals to feel like they’re already a distant memory from the past year. So, with the rush of midterms week behind us, now is the perfect time to reflect on whether we’re on track or if our 2025 resolutions have fallen flat.
Personally, I made two resolutions for 2025. So far, I’ve stayed consistent with one of them, but the other hasn’t gone as planned. Let’s start with the successful one — daily journaling has always been a major goal of mine, and one that I’ve always promised to do at the start of the year but ended up falling short on. However, I decided to add a fun twist to 2025’s daily journaling to try to incentivize the task. I made a “My Life 2025” journal where each day is titled like an episode of a TV show which in this case is my life. For example, my January 1 entry is titled “Pilot 2025,” January 2 is “Yapping 101,” etcetera. Then, each day, I write down some shorthand bullet points on what happened and the highs and lows of that day. By giving each day a comedic title, I feel more excited to journal every day because I have turned my goal into a fun activity rather than a rigid resolution. Although I’m not writing paragraphs about my entire day, I like to think that one day I’ll read back on “My Life 2025” and be happy that I documented my freshman year in high school in an amusing and cute way. What I’ve taken away from this objective is that resolutions shouldn’t cause stress or make people feel a sense of failure. If the resolution set in the excitement of New Year’s optimism is no longer feasible or motivating, it’s better to recalibrate and adjust goals rather than quitting after facing setbacks. Success in resolutions isn’t defined by perfection but through persistence and flexibility.
Finally, for my second resolution, I wanted to start waking up at 7:00 a.m. every day without fail. One thing about me is that I am not a morning person, but this year I wanted that to change. Ever since coming to boarding school, I was handed a lot of independence in terms of time management and choosing activities. Although I was able to manage my school commitments and assignments well on my own, I found myself rushing for time in the morning and was starting to skip breakfast more frequently in order to not be late for class. Reflecting on this goal now, I have definitely not been waking up at seven every morning, but I have been starting to get up earlier so that I have enough time for breakfast. Even though I thought this was a simple goal I could set for myself, it proved to be more challenging than I expected. This doesn’t mean I’ve given up though; I decided to simplify my goal by waking up five minutes earlier than the previous day, such as 7:30 a.m. on Monday and then 7:25 a.m. on Tuesday. I will admit that I’ve regressed a little on this plan, like the occasional day of sleeping until 7:50 a.m., but I think I still have made good progress in working towards my goal. More importantly, I think the biggest change I’ve noticed in me in 2025 is my mindset on how I hope to accomplish my goals. I’ve started to value progress and perseverance more than perfection, and that has shown in my modified resolutions this year.
I encourage all of us to revise our resolutions if they feel too lofty right now. High school can feel like a rush, but our New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be. Perfectionism can drive us to chase major, lofty goals all at once, but it’s the consistent pursuit of progress that truly matters. Instead of striving to achieve all our aspirations in the short span of a year, focusing on meaningful milestones along the way makes a greater impact in reaching our larger ambitious objectives. So, here’s to 2025: a year of growth, learning, and making it through high school, one step at a time.
