A New Year, A New You

Everyone’s been there. It's the new year, everyone’s celebrating the end of a tiring year, welcoming a new year full of opportunities, surprises, and excitement. People would be working on their New Year's resolutions, dreaming about what they would like to accomplish in the next 365 days. They would also be contemplating what they have already done in the past year.

However, you might feel like you are not doing anything: you have not worked on that skill you’ve wanted to master, finished that course you wanted to start, or planned for the next year.

Many people face such a dilemma, often feeling lost or unsure of what to do, ending up with another year gone and yet another missed opportunity.

The Dilemma

Sometimes it's a lack of desire to work, an overwhelming amount of pending tasks, or perhaps it is simply laziness; nonetheless, many people fall for the trap of not planning properly.  Some issues young adults often face include: 

• Not having a clear goal, whereby the person does not know what they want to do or what they want to accomplish 
• Being vague about goals, which should be specific and precise to avoid uncertainty and procrastination, unrealistic ambitions that are impracticable within the duration.

The First Steps

Everyone wants to accomplish their goals but lacks the initiative to do so. As 2026 begins, the time has come to ponder what we want to achieve within the year. Instead of just dreaming, it is the perfect opportunity to finally start acting, building habits as we go on tackling different aspects of life! A New Year's Resolution supports us in doing just that. So grab a pen (or your device) and start planning! 

1. You can start by dividing your resolution into multiple sections - such as health, social life & relationships, habits, and studies & career. 
2. Then we can begin putting in some points for each section. These objectives should be pretty precise, and examples of such include: “Achieve 3 A*’s” rather than “Get good results”, or “Add someone on Instagram for every social event I attend” instead of “Socialize more often”. 
3. You may want to separate these goals into major and minor goals, whereby your most important goals come before the least important ones. With our goals clearly defined, we can start turning them into reality. 
4. Every month or two, you should check back on your resolution to make sure you are still on track. 
5. Try to not tweak your resolution to your current condition; otherwise, that beats the whole point of having a resolution in the first place

Moving Forward

New Year's Resolutions are exciting, allowing you to challenge your performance, endurance, and adaptability. They are also very motivating, as people would strive and struggle to accomplish their tasks on time. ِ

One of the best things about Resolutions is that… they actually work! A study published in 2020 concluded that these resolutions can have lasting effects, even after a single year. 

As 2025 closes its doors, it is time to think seriously about our annual goals, reflecting on what we did last year, and finding ways to improve this year. After all, what is the point of celebrating the new year if we have done nothing?