“New Year, New Me!” That is the most popular saying at the beginning of every year, due to the spur of New Year’s resolutions that our society is famous for coming up with. Such resolutions are commonly associated with nutrition, exercise, generosity, self-care, and spending more time with loved ones. All of these are commendable goals. However, in order to set a realistic New Year’s resolution for yourself, you must evaluate your boundaries and honestly assess the resources that you will have available. Most importantly, your resolutions should improve your overall mental state, not sabotage it; make sure you are choosing something that you enjoy and makes you happy!

I interviewed a variety of different Xavier students and asked about their experience regarding this topic. A popular choice of New Year’s resolutions has always been associated with nutrition and making healthier choices regarding the nutrition that we put into our bodies. Recently, meal prep has made its way to the forefront of many people’s weekly Sunday night routines. Kaitlin Gaona ‘20 started meal prepping at the beginning of the new year and has found great success so far. “One of my mom and my’s New Year’s resolutions this year was to start meal prepping every Sunday. It is a really good way to make better eating choices because you have healthy meals to look forward to every day when packing your school lunch. We have had much success so far and we both hope to continue this for the rest of the year.” Gaona has recipes for multiple delicious dishes such as turkey lettuce bowls, chickpeas with quinoa, meatballs over quinoa, and a sweet potato and black bean quinoa bake. People often align their goals of improving nutrition with those of adapting a healthy exercise routine, which has become an integral part of a lot of teenagers’ daily activities. For example, Kendall Swanson ‘20 has a New Year’s resolution for exercising more: “I go to Corepower Yoga to work out and focus on getting stronger.” Swanson has recently invested in attending these rigorous yoga classes three to four times a week and plans to carry on this routine for the remainder of the year. Incorporating nutrition and exercise into your daily routine can be easily achieved by being internally motivated. Taylor Garman ‘20 has been very pleased with her resolution: “My major New Year’s resolution was to count my macros as I eat, and supplement healthier eating with more workouts. Some workouts that I have tried are CrossFit and spin classes aside from my soccer practices and games. I just want to live a healthier lifestyle.”

Another area of focus for New Year’s resolutions is channeling unfamiliar hobbies as well as reducing temptations such as the consistent use of cell phones by most teenagers, especially Xavier girls. Hallie Jonkosky ‘20 has seen improvements in her grades because of this: “My resolution was to stay off my phone while I was doing homework and it has made me more productive and I have gotten better grades because of it!” Along with putting their grades as a priority in their resolutions, Cameron Martin ‘20 focused her New Year’s resolution on studying more. “As a student, for the upcoming college application season, I knew I wanted to academically succeed. So, I dedicated my nights to memorizing algebraic equations and types of prose, so that I could overcome testing day struggles.” 

It is important for New Year’s resolutions to focus on spending time doing things that interest you and have a positive impact on your well being. Grace Smith ‘20 has been content with her resolution choice: “My New Year’s resolution was to journal every day and just write down my thoughts and what I did throughout the day, which has been helping me a lot with college decisions and senior year. I’ve been doing it pretty consistently and I will continue to do this throughout the year in hopes that it will help me with my transition to college and the rest of senior year!” Tessa Gaynor ‘20 made her New Year’s resolution something that she doesn’t do very often but that she thinks would be valuable to do more of: “My resolution was to read a book every month because I don’t read a lot, and I’ve been successful because I just finished one.” Tara Kobierowski ‘20 made her resolution to focus on reading more books outside of school: “The reason I started reading was to stay motivated in my personal self-improvement. I’ve finished three books already; The Leader’s Mindset by Terence Mauri, Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey B. Mackay, and Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott. After seeing personal improvements after reading the first book, I wanted to improve more and more! This is what keeps me motivated, and I’m hooked!”

Such examples of New Year’s resolutions can act as an inspiration on how to incorporate new activities into your daily or weekly routine to help promote a healthier, happier lifestyle!