Out With The Old, In With The New

            The new year is traditionally a time for reassessing past goals and setting new ones. For those who are still in school, goals for each new year often look the same as the old: sharpen study skills; practice executive function strategies; succeed in school. So why haven’t they worked? Maybe you don’t need new goals. Maybe what you need is a new way to approach them. That is, to stop trying the same thing every year and hoping for a different result.

Make a Commitment

            There’s nothing wrong with a New Year’s resolution, but resolutions often lapse into wishful thinking. (Ask anyone who works at a gym what the first week of January looks like, compared to the first week of February.) So rather than calling it another resolution, make a commitment for the coming year. Spell it out. Write it down. Treat it like an IEP goal, with accountability and ways to measure success built in. Here’s an example:

Last year’s resolution: I will always turn in my homework on time.

This year’s commitment: I will double-check my planner every evening and use Google calendar to keep track of when my homework assignments are due. If I forget to turn in my homework or don’t finish it on time, I will speak to my teacher about making up work and recovery strategies.

Which one is easier to turn into a habit? Which one has more chance of success?

Do the Work

            Making a commitment is giving your word. Since you’ve made the commitment to double-check your planner and use Google calendar, that should become your routine every night. But what if you forget? That’s okay – nobody’s perfect. But part of doing the work is maintaining your intent. Forgetting a night, or even forgetting a week, and having that result in missed assignments doesn’t mean you’ve failed and it’s over. Making a commitment and putting in the work means that you keep on going, even after you’ve stumbled.

Reassess and Modify

            Remember we said to stop trying the same thing and hoping for a different result? If it turns out that you’re having a lot of trouble keeping your commitment, it’s not necessarily the commitment itself that is the problem. You might just need a new approach.

            Just like an IEP has periodic assessments, review your commitment for the year each marking period or semester. What progress have you made? What strategies worked, and what strategies aren’t working? And finally, who can you turn to for help? It may be your parent or guardian, your teacher or special educator, or your tutor or executive function coach.

            So, out with the old, in with the new, and best wishes for a happy and successful New Year from EEG!