{"id":434,"date":"2023-01-31T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T18:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/?p=434"},"modified":"2022-12-13T13:59:09","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T19:59:09","slug":"new-years-resolution-eliminate-enhance-explore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/2023\/01\/31\/new-years-resolution-eliminate-enhance-explore\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year’s Resolution: Eliminate, Enhance, Explore"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s my first day back at my writing desk since my Holiday Hiatus, and I\u2019m thinking a lot about what I want from 2023: what I want to achieve, how I want to work better and smarter, and what I need to do in order to be successful personally and professionally. I\u2019m sure many of you are beginning 2023 with similar resolve: I salute you.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a real sucker for resolutions. I make them every New Year, of course, but I also make them at the beginning of each semester. Resolutions give me a sense of purpose; they help me feel like I have some control over this crazy life, like I still have the power to shape who I am amidst the\u00a0cult of grad school<\/a>. And there\u2019s something cathartic in saying it out loud:\u00a0THIS is what I\u00a0want<\/em><\/strong>, or\u00a0THIS is what I\u00a0need<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0And I\u2019m going to make it happen<\/strong>. *Cue Wonder Woman theme song.*<\/p>\n

But it seems that New Year\u2019s resolutions may be\u00a0falling<\/a>\u00a0the way of bygone New Year\u2019s traditions, such as\u00a0pork-over-poultry<\/a>,\u00a0\u201cFirst-Footing,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0or, my childhood favorite, banging pots and pans until my eardrums felt fit to burst. Resolutions, most commonly about physical or emotional change, are hard to keep. A study from the University of Scranton suggests that\u00a0only 8% of Americans<\/a>\u00a0are actually successful in keeping their resolutions. Failed resolutions often leave us feeling poorly about ourselves; what began as a quest for self-improvement transforms into (yet another) site of guilt.<\/p>\n

There are many tactics for developing successful resolutions, such as setting\u00a0SMART Goals<\/a>, asking for varying degrees of accountability, or\u00a0hacking the psychology of habit-forming<\/a>. These tactics are all useful, each in their own right; I\u2019ve tried them all over the years. But the one caveat, on which I will insist, is that would-be-resolvers\u00a0avoid guilt<\/strong>. We\u2019re grad students;\u00a0we\u2019ve got enough guilt<\/a>. To that end, I offer to you three suggestions for creating New Year\u2019s Resolutions.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eliminate.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Start with getting rid of the clutter. If you\u2019re like me, the\u00a0commitments pile up\u00a0<\/a>faster than you can blink. You serve on committees, you guest lecture in a class, you offer to proofread a paper\u2014all on top of taking classes, writing your dissertation, teaching, and attempting to maintain\u00a0some semblance of healthy relationships with friends and family<\/a>. Even when I want to try something new, or change my behavior, I find that\u00a0I have no time left to do it<\/a>. So before you try something new,\u00a0scale down<\/strong>. Make room to breathe. Enjoy the space.<\/p>\n

My \u201cEliminate\u201d Resolution:\u00a0I resolve to stop working at 8 pm each night, and to take Sundays off.<\/em><\/p>\n

2. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Enhance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are you really good at? Resolve to keep doing it, but better. When are you at your best? Don\u2019t set impossible goals for yourself, but recognize the areas in your life in which you\u2019re already succeeding. Figure out how you can enhance those areas of your life. Are you great at writing in short increments? Try developing a\u00a0daily writing routine<\/a>. Are you already disciplined about writing daily? Consider adding 500 words to your daily count, or investing in a\u00a0new software program<\/a>\u00a0to improve that experience. Are you at your best when you get a full 8-hour sleep? Try going to bed earlier, or drinking less caffeine in order to sleep better. Make a skill\u00a0into a habit<\/a>. The principle is the same:\u00a0play to your strengths.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

My \u201cEnhance\u201d Resolution:\u00a0I am at my best, my sharpest, my happiest, when I allow myself to be creative. I\u2019m going to play the piano, I\u2019m going to sing, I\u2019m going to write poetry; I resolve to create space for imagination and artistry in my life.<\/em><\/p>\n

3. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Explore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Try something new. Take a risk. Give yourself the freedom. This doesn\u2019t need to be a big goal; you don\u2019t need to master a new language, or learn to play an instrument, or travel the world. Exploration does not require commitment.\u00a0To explore is to seek, to investigate, to try<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The most common resolutions are to lose weight, to save more\/spend less, and to get organized. Each of these things is final: you do or don\u2019t lose weight, you are or aren\u2019t organized, you do or you don\u2019t save.\u00a0I think this is a guilt-inciting mistake<\/strong>. Instead of setting an all-or-nothing goal, resolve to give something a try. If it works for you, then you can choose to incorporate it into your life.<\/p>\n

Last year, I resolved to \u201cmove around the classroom\u201d more frequently. I thought that this would help me connect with my students, provide a more engaging educational environment, and help me curb frustrating technology use.<\/p>\n

I tried it. It was weird.<\/p>\n

I felt uncomfortable, students felt uncomfortable, and I quickly returned to my position at the front of the classroom. I don\u2019t feel bad about opting out of this resolution: I gave it a shot, it didn\u2019t work for me, I moved on. Ultimately, I consider this a success in the spirit of the resolution, if not the letter: I learned something about myself as a teacher, and trying, at least, set me on the path to improvement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s my first day back at my writing desk since my Holiday Hiatus, and I\u2019m thinking a lot about what I want from 2023: what I want to achieve, how I want to work better and smarter, and what I need to do in order to be successful personally and professionally. I\u2019m sure many of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,11,10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-advice","8":"category-general-post","9":"category-holiday","10":"category-tips"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2018\/12\/fire-works-ttu.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1148,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434\/revisions\/1148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.tntech.edu\/graduate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}