It is always discouraging when people are making New Year’s resolutions when you don’t exactly believe in them or they never work out for you. There could be reasons for that like the resolutions being too broad or that you forget them and say that you will try again next year. RHS’ Health and Lifestyle Fitness teacher, Mrs. Cutino, has found a new twist to those too broad resolutions and shared what she calls the ”theme word” concept with her students.

Cutino found two different versions of her theme word concept that she loved from the blogs she follows. She played around with both versions and decided on having students pick a theme word, write down at least three goals to go along with the word, as well as some overall goals for the year.

“[…] I just thought […] what a great concept to introduce to my students just to have a great focus point and something to just inspire them to make their year really great,” Cutino says.

Cutino’s theme word to conquer 2019 is “free”. Some goals she had associated with “free” were to get rid of things that clutter her space and mind, becoming debt free, and to be free of expectations and what people think.

“Doing what you want to do because it makes you happy and focusing on that, not worrying about what other people think is another great thing,” Cutino expresses.

Cutino is excited to take on 2019 because these goals will help lead her to a place where she can “sincerely enjoy life”. When her goals are met, there will be no excuses to make like “I can’t do this because I have to clean”, “I can’t do this because I can’t afford it”, or “I can’t do this because what will people say”.

“I just want to live my life exactly the way I want to and not worry about just all of those different components. I’m so excited for where this leads me in the future. It gives me a passion and drive to stick with it the whole year long,” Cutino says with excitement.

With her students doing this concept too, she wants them to remember that they have the control to change their lives. She wants the students to use their theme word as something that spurs them on and motivates them so that they can focus on positive energy and invite good things into their life. She wants them to focus on “what is something positive I can bring into my life?” not “I want to get in better shape” because you’re focusing on the fact that you do not particularly like the way you look.

“[With] my goal this year of doing a spartan race, I’m focusing on something positive I am going to do with my energy instead of focusing on something negative I don’t like. I think by focusing on a word that brings you positive energy, it keeps your focus point on something positive in your life and bringing the positive things towards you, instead of having a resolution of something that you don’t like or want to cut out of your life instead,“ Cutino elaborates.

Some examples of words that students have chosen are “effort” and “prioritize”. The student with “effort” wants to make sure that everything that they do in school and in life is being done with hard work and trying their best. The student that wants to “prioritize” wants to make their life more organized and wants to start analyzing if one thing has a higher prioritization than another, especially with school work and family life.

“You, at the end of the day, truly have control of what comes in and out of your life and I think that is a really important and valuable skill to learn,” Cutino states.