The secret to achieving your New Year’s resolutions

Advice from an Iranian-American-Muslim.

2018 is ending, and we want to let you in on our little secret. To this day, we have ALWAYS achieved our New Year’s resolutions.

Like many others, these days I am constantly reflecting on my 2018 goals and thinking about how I want 2019 to be. There is a lot of talk about how new year’s resolutions are unrealistic and set us up for failure and disappointment. Well, I strongly disagree. When you’re kinda Persian, kinda Muslim, kinda American, like us, you can rest easy that you will achieve your goals.

Let me be transparent and take you through my 2017–2018 goals to teach you the strategy. This was the list of resolutions I wrote in December 2017:

Ambitious, eh? You may be thinking, “Those sound like my goals! How did she do it!?” Well, in January 2017, I pinned these goals to my wall and bought a brand new daily planner with a color-coded schedule, and new shiny pens.

Three months later, around March 20th, Persian New Year rolled around. It commemorates the Vernal Equinox and the first day of Spring. It’s the biggest holiday for Iranians, Afghans, and many others from Central Asia. Like all great Middle Eastern traditions, it’s ALL ABOUT FOOD. We have a huge meal of saffron smoked fish, buttered saffron rice, Persian roll cakes, endless amounts of watermelon, sunflower, pumpkin seeds, and lots and lots of rice. We also do mundane things like deep clean every nook and cranny of the house and visit relatives.

But most importantly, we use the time between the food comas to update and revise our resolutions. It New Year’s after all….again. A new year, a new start.

I started Spring 2018 full of ambition and drive. I was committed to working towards my newly-revised-New Year’s resolutions. I stuck color-coded Post-its all over my desk, set my alarm every night, and reminded myself everyday, “If you want it, go after it.”

And then, a few months later Islamic new year rolled around. Ramadan. It’s technically not a ‘new year’, but it is the most important Muslim holiday and is entirely focused on cleansing your soul and having a fresh start. We reflect, recharge, and reset. Over the course of my thirty days of fasting in 2018, I had ample time to reflect on and revise my resolutions:

When Eid al-Fitr arrived at the end of Ramadan 2018, once again, I was ready to achieve my re-revised resolutions. A new, pure beginning

And what do you say….just a few months later…it’s already December again. I look back on my most updated resolution list, pat myself on the back, and think, “You did it, girl. You achieved.”

It’s times like these where I really couldn’t be more thankful about my trisectional identity. No failures, no disappointments, just accomplishments.

I’m ready for another round of resolutions.

Bring it, 2019!