Making New Year Resolution and Sticking To Them
The new year has arrived, and with it comes the promise of change. This season encourages many people to make New Year’s resolutions, and your teenager may want to get in on the action.
There are many learning-focused resolutions your child could make to improve their studies, bolster their skills, and gain confidence. But it’s important to guide them in making sensible, achievable goals so they’re not set up to fail.
Below, we’ve laid out some of the positives and drawbacks of teenagers making New Year’s resolutions, as well as some ideas for goals that will help your child succeed.
Let’s take a look.
Benefits of New Year’s resolutions
Teaches long-term planning
Setting a yearly goal requires persistence, motivation, and some planning to make sure the achievement can be met. This can teach your teen about healthy habits and self-discipline, which will serve them well later in life.
Boosts confidence
Hitting a New Year’s resolution is a great confidence booster for teenagers at a potentially tricky time in their lives. It gives them a sense of accomplishment that they can carry over into their studies.
Breaking goals down into smaller, actionable steps to create mini-milestones gives a sustained sense of achievement throughout the year.
Drawbacks of New Year’s resolutions
Difficult to stick to
If your teen is full of enthusiasm to make a New Year’s resolution but lacks a plan, it may lead your child to feel discouraged or overwhelmed.
You could offer to help them reach their goal with your own skillset. Another idea is to help them with a plan of actionable steps toward their goal so they’re more likely to achieve it.
Pressure
The last thing you want is for an already stressed and anxious child to feel like they need to change every aspect of their lives. This can lead to unrealistic expectations, unhappiness, and depression.
If your teen has expressed an interest in making some New Year’s resolutions but you’re worried about them getting overly obsessed with reaching the goal, have a chat with them. Make sure they understand the power of making small steps towards goals.
You can also advise them on how many to make so they’re not working towards too many different goals.
New Year’s resolution ideas
Now you’ve seen the pros and cons of New Year’s resolutions, you’re ready to help your child with making some goals. We’ve laid out some ideas on New Year’s resolutions to help your teenager succeed.
Improve grades
Choosing a subject to focus on improving will serve your teen well in their exams and for their future.
To start, identify the areas for improvement and what their strengths are. This can help you decide what learning style is best for them to improve their grades in a particular subject. Setting out a studying plan, complete with rewards where appropriate, will encourage your child to stick with the resolution and achieve better grades.
Be more organised
With multiple exams and deadlines comes the need for teenagers to organise their schedules for the first time. A New Year’s resolution to get more on top of their schoolwork could be the perfect idea for the time-poor teen.
Using a planner can help them to stay on top of deadlines, while sorting out their materials and workbooks by subject is another step they can take to be more organised. Introducing a study space to their room may also help with this goal.
Work on time management
If your teenager is struggling to fit everything into their schedule, better time management may be a good resolution for them. Creating a daily or weekly schedule and prioritising their tasks is a good starting point.
To make it more fun, take them out shopping for a wall calendar or stationery supplies so they can have visual cues for staying on top of their schedule. An online calendar like Google Calendar can be set up to ping alerts before a deadline or class.
Read more books
Reading is a great way for teens to expand their vocabulary and learn about new ideas. It’s a worthy goal for any studious child. Choosing books they’re interested in rather than ones they ‘think’ they should read should be encouraged.
You could help your teen with a reading schedule and set up a habit tracker for reading. Taking things a step further, setting up a cosy reading spot somewhere in the home may encourage your child to read more.
Learn a new skill or hobby
If your child is already making progress in school or wants to try something new, a new skill or hobby may be the next step for them. It’s also a great way for them to develop their social skills if they get into something like a team sport or book club.
You can help them achieve their goal by finding out what classes are available in the area, encouraging them to be consistent with any practice needed, and enlisting the help of family and friends to support them where needed.
Get involved in class
Improving a teen’s active participation in class can help them to have a better grasp of the material and give them the confidence to voice their opinions. It’s a great goal for any teenager looking to focus on their future.
If you want to help them achieve this goal, you could encourage your child to ask more questions at home to foster critical thinking skills. Taking good notes and looking for extra reading around the topic will also put your child in good stead to engage with the class.
Wrapping up
When targeted and sustainable, New Year’s resolutions can be a great way to teach older children and teens about motivation and discipline. Once they achieve the resolution, the sense of accomplishment will give them the momentum to flourish.
Our private tutors UK will help your teen succeed in their learning goals. If you think your child would benefit from our specialist expertise and learning styles, get in touch with us today.