By Althea Balisi “New year, new me.” But how new can we really get? How do we change the old us whilst keeping track of what we want to achieve? According to a PhD director at Columbia University, “Behavioral change is hard. Yet sustaining healthy behaviors is one of the most important things people can do to live long healthy lives.” But how can we identify if our behaviors are unhealthy? And most importantly, how do we change it? Oftentimes, people refer to this change as their new year’s resolution, but it’s not a simple, three-word phrase. It’s a process of change itself. Imagine you’re now who you want to be, what does that look like? What does it feel like? Strange? Fulfilling? Successful? Realize that what you envisioned was the change, but not the process. Because the process is hard, and it almost seems impossible because of how great the change looks like. In accordance with The US News and World Report, 80 percent of new year’s resolutions fail. Here’s the timeline: January is for the enthusiastic approach for the change we want, but by February (right about now), 80% of those resolutions are already discarded. Now the question is, how much do we really want this change? Why does it matter to us? That is what's missing - the why? According to Daniel Wallen from lifehack.org, one reason why resolutions fail is because “we know the what, but not the why.” The answer to the why is important because it is what drives our desire for this change, and it can be enough reason to endure the process for the change. It’s a requirement: the process. Because like what they say, “The process won’t be easy, but the outcome will be worth it.” Everybody might have heard of the term SMART Goals, and you might not have wanted to do it when your teacher told you to do so, but you did it anyway. Beyond the process and the change, there’s the planning. It might be the time when you realized you wanted something, so you tried to do it, but you never got there. Then you thought it wasn’t meant to be, but deep inside you, you still want it. So maybe SMART Goals can really help us, because through it, we can be aware of what we want and why we want it. We’ll be aware of the internal things that can help us endure the process, thus achieving the resolution. Specific - What, specifically, do you want? Why do you want it? Why does it matter to you? Measurable - Know when you have reached the goal, appreciate it no matter how small it is. Because it’s the beginning of having the attitude towards what you want next - and it will most likely be a big thing. Achievable - Ask yourself how are you going to achieve it. Who are the people that can help you? Realistic - Acknowledging how realistic the thing is, is what makes it more realistically achievable. Timely - It’s not a race, it’s a process. Sources https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-reasons-why-new-years-resolutions-fail.html https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/science-behind-behavior-change https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/ https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/ https://cce.bard.edu/files/Setting-Goals.pdf If you want to write for the Crescent Crier, we would love to see you at one of our virtual meetings, which are every Wednesday at 1:30pm! To come to a meeting, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/TrQ5PqFcDqeE2yiB9, and we’ll send you a link ASAP. If you would like to submit a single article - or anything else like creative writing, an opinion, an art piece, photo or photo series, or something else entirely - then you can do that using this form: https://forms.gle/WAHSoWJuVwK3q5du6. If you want to contact us for any reason, you can email
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