Luckily, it’s possible to keep it up by creating what Shooksvensen called a stress budget. It works just like a financial budget, except you’re not spending money—rather, you’re giving time and attention to things that stress you out. And if you don’t give any, then it won’t stress you out. Pure and simple.
An example of conserving a stress budget would be to skip reading or watching the news for a day, don’t reach out to people who stress you out, don’t pile commitments or events into one day, don’t tempt yourself with things that support bad habits or whatever else that might deplete your stress budget. In other words, identify what stresses you and don’t invest yourself in it.
So, once that is out of the way, you can really focus on keeping your New Year’s resolutions: make them realistic and attainable by taking baby steps rather than leaps; try to internalize resolutions to a degree where it becomes a routine as it becomes easier to keep up; don’t be afraid to experiment and change things if it isn’t working—so long as you keep it up; celebrate small victories as it goes a long way and keeps you focused. There are more, but you get the idea, but pace yourself first.
So, what are some of your New Year’s resolutions for this year? How will you approach them? Or why don’t you have resolutions? Share your takes and stories in the comment section below!
And if your resolution is to scroll through more Bored Panda content—very commendable—then there’s definitely more memes and posts about New Year’s resolutions.