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New Year’s Resolutions for Teens

Happy New Year! During this time of year, we hear a lot about making resolutions, which are usually things we would like to improve about ourselves or accomplish during the upcoming year. Whether you want to affix the words “I will” or “I will do my best to” or “I’ll try to” or whatever else in front of these resolutions or keep them as is, the key is to pick a few of them (or even just one) and then stick to it with a clear-cut path to success. Hopefully, you’ll find a good place to start here.

1. Unplug from social media for at least 24 hours each month this year. Whether it’s Tiktok, Instagram, or another social media account that keeps you scrolling on your phone, do you think you can live without it for 24 hours per month? Pick one day each month, that’s it, and do this for the entire year, and you’ll have accomplished this resolution. That’s 12 days a year without social media.

2. Read at least 12 books this year. This is an average of one book each month. You can pick your reading list for the year ahead of time, or you can choose as you go, depending on how much you feel like reading. During months where you won’t be reading as much, you could choose shorter books. If you feel like reading a lot, pick a longer book. And it doesn’t have to be done on a month to month basis, either.

3. Drink enough water each day. The specific amount of water that you need to drink each day for this resolution will vary depending on a lot of factors. Some of the things that determine how much water you’ll need to drink include how hot is it where you are, how much you’re sweating or working out, if you’re drinking tea or coffee and getting hydration through that, your size, and more.

The common amount of water you’ll hear is to aim for 8 glasses of water each day, and that’s not a bad goal. It’s better than drinking a lot less water than this, but if it’s very hot out or dry, or you’re exerting yourself a lot, make sure you compensate by drinking a bit more water.

4. Get enough sleep. Getting enough sleep is very important. Make sure that you’re giving yourself enough time to get a full night’s sleep. If you’re staying up too late, then it’s already going to be a problem. You might end up being tired in class or napping after class, which will make it hard to fall asleep that night. To improve your sleep routine for this resolution, try to avoid looking at your phone screen for 30 minutes before going to sleep and don’t keep your phone right next to your bed so that you end up checking it if you wake up in the middle of the night. Also, having a good ritual before bed, like getting into a fresh pair of pajamas, cleaning your face, brushing and flossing your teeth, can also help you establish a routine that will help you get ready for bed.

5. Make a daily effort to engage in positive self-talk.

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The way that you talk to yourself can have a huge impact on what you’re able to accomplish and achieve. Having negative self-talk and generally being hard on yourself can stop you from doing things you might otherwise be able to accomplish. A resolution to stop negative self-talk is something that will take a lot of time and effort to perfect, especially if you’re someone who is generally quite hard on yourself. You can look at positive affirmations to think of some nicer things to fill your mind with, however a big part of this is to cut out the negative self-talk to try to pay attention to the thoughts you have about yourself and the things that you think about yourself.

6. Speak up when you’re unsure about something. Imagine someone explains how to do something to you, and you don’t really understand. Are you the type of person who would speak up and have them repeat it or would you quietly nod along and pretend that you understand because you feel awkward or you’re embarrassed to say that you didn’t get it?

Speaking up when you don’t understand a lesson or how to do something is an important skill to have, but there’s another similar example of speaking up that’s also super important.

 

Another time you should learn to speak up for yourself is when you’re unsure about something, like if your friends are planning to do something and you think it’s a bad idea. Would you go along with the group no matter what, or would you be willing to speak up and express your concerns, even if it means being excluded to some degree?

This takes a strong sense of self. It’s not easy to speak up for yourself when you think something is wrong or when you don’t understand something.

7. Do a great job with hygiene and other forms of self-care. Good hygiene is an important part of taking care of yourself. You’re probably going to need to shower every day, and people are going to know if you don’t. You also need to be mindful about wearing the same clothes for multiple days, taking care of your hair, finding a style for your facial hair that works for you, or even just soaking your feet and moisturizing your skin sometimes. If you’re into aromatherapy, getting nice smelling bath products can be a great way to practice self-care and good hygiene at the same time.

8. Boost your GPA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does having a higher GPA help you out? The short answer is, yes, it can be very useful as you sort out the next few years of your life. A higher GPA keeps more opportunities open for you, and it can help you save money by getting scholarships and grants. If you are struggling in certain subjects, talk to your adviser or guidance counselor for help. Tell them that you want to improve your GPA and that you need guidance on the best strategy to accomplish that. They should be able to help you come up with a plan, or at least point you towards the resources that you need.

9. Use a planner. Each year, Upward Bound students are given a planner to help keep track of assignments, important dates, and other items that you need to remember. You should make it a habit to fill in any permanent due dates (like one for a final Language Arts paper), sports practices, club meetings or goals for the week, and remember to check your planner every day. You can check for items for the next day before going to bed or first thing in the morning. Using a planner will keep things from getting lost throughout a busy week.

10. Learn a new skill. Is there a skill you’ve been wanting to learn to do well? Maybe it’s learning to draw, paint, play music or something athletic. Maybe it’s something more academic. Maybe you want to learn to code.

Whatever it is that’s caught your interest, there’s never been a better time to dive in and learn as much as you can. You will be stunned at how much you can progress in just a year when you put a little bit of time into it each day.

Whatever skill you’d like to have, look up some resources on how to learn it, and you can spend an afternoon putting together a road map/lesson plan for yourself, for free, that you can work your way through.

With a lot of practice and some careful planning and preparation you’ll be on your way to making huge progress towards a new skill. Even an hour or two a few nights a week is plenty of time to get really, really good at something if you’re practicing smartly.