KENTWOOD, Mich. — The countdown to the New Year is officially on! Whether its hitting the gym, saving some extra money, or reading more, this is the start of resolution season.
But reaching your goals isn't always easy. I connected with Dr. Urminda Firlan, of Life Journey Psychological Services about how to balance your hopes and mental health going into the New Year.
"This notion of setting new year's resolutions ties into one of the factors that we find determines if a person is a resilient person or not," Dr. Firlan said.
Dr. Firlan has been a licensed psychologist for over two decades, so she understands the impacts these goals have on our mental health.
"When we set these new year's resolutions and we go on to accomplish them, that feeds into boosting our self esteem in a very genuine and real way that creates lasting results," Firlan said.
And that means on the flip side, if you don't reach that goal right away, it can impact you negatively.
"They can feel like they can't accomplish things, and unfortunately, it's too easy for people to do that in our society today, and it's so important that people understand that failure will happen, and failure is a part of ultimate success," she said.
Dr. Firlan says hope is one of the keys to setting and attaining your resolutions this year.
"That's what New Year's resolutions are all about, making changes for that New Year. New Hope, new growth," Dr. Firlan said.
But that's only part of the battle. Setting the right goals goes a long way too.
"I like smart goals, and those are goals that are specific, they're measurable, they're attainable," Firlan said. "So that you can set a goal that is very high that will motivate you to strive for that goal. And even if you fall short of that goal, then you're still pretty happy with where you got right."
But the biggest tip from Dr. Firlan comes down to discipline.
"Discipline is the ability to stay the course, no matter if we think we can do it or not, no matter if we're feeling down, if we're feeling frustrated, we rely on our discipline," Firlan said. "That's how we really achieve the goals."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Follow FOX 17: Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - YouTube
