New Years Resolutions: Volunteering and How to Make This Year the Year it Sticks
We all know this time of year well. It is the time when it seems everyone we know is pledging to eat healthier, workout more, save more money, FINALLY clean out the garage, etc etc etc. It is the time of New Years resolutions. The whole point is to take whatever it was last year that we feel we did not do well enough and make a commitment to ourselves to do better in the fresh new year. New year, new you, right? Sure, sometimes. The trick is to not go from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. If your resolution for 2013 is to increase your commitment to volunteering, here are a few tips that may help:
Reduce your guilt.
How many of us have decided that this is the year to really start volunteering and giving back to our community? We start each year with amazing goals for ourselves such as spending five hours each week volunteering at a homeless shelter or pledging to raise $5000 for breast cancer research by May 1st. But as the year goes on and the busyness of our lives takes over, it is easy for our once wholehearted goals to fall by the wayside. When this happens, we often start to feel discouraged and guilty for not being able to meet the expectations we have of ourselves to give back. When this happens, breathe. Remember that just because you may not be contributing in as grand of a way as you had planned does not mean that you have failed. Say you only volunteered at that homeless shelter for five hours last month instead of the five hours a week you had planned to. That’s still five hours that you gave for the benefit of others. And maybe you only raised $500 for breast cancer research instead of the $5000. Guess what, that is still $500 that they would not have if it weren’t for you. Instead of feeling guilty for what you could not do, stay motivated by focusing on what you have been able to do and the good that has come because of it.
Change your mentality.
Whether you’re bogged down with kids, sports, homework, work, or all of the above, try to remember that volunteering and giving back is not about you. All too often we start thinking of volunteering as a chore and forget that it is actually an opportunity. At the end of a long day when all you want to do is relax on the couch and are dreading the two hour practice for the kids soccer team that you volunteered to coach, try to remember that the same practice will probably be the highlight of one childâs day and how excited they are to be there. When we stop thinking of volunteering as something we have to do and start realizing it is something we get to do, the burned-out feeling that we sometimes get will, well, burn out.
Make it a part of you.
Picture someone volunteering. You may be picturing someone playing with kids, planting a community garden, folding items at a clothing drive, or doing any number of other volunteer activities. No matter what the act, you are probably picturing that person smiling, cheerful and happy to help. Now imagine if everyone you encountered on a daily basis had that same attitude. There would be no cashiers who make you feel like an annoyance just for needing their services, no businessmen too busy to hold the door for you, and no impatient drivers that seem to exist only to cause everyone else frustration. Volunteering does not need to always be an organized activity at a set-aside time, but instead can simply be freely helping those around you for the sake of doing good. It may not be serving meals at a soup kitchen, but simply paying for the order of the person behind you in line at the Starbucks drive-thru can make a huge difference in their day. When you do little things in your daily routine to give back or to make someone’s day, that volunteer attitude becomes a lifestyle that will touch everyone you interact with.
Keep it interesting.
It is no secret that the volunteers who are invested in and truly love what they do make the greatest impact. To do that, you may need a little variety sometimes. Inviting your friends, involving your kids or changing your scenery are all great ways to stay excited and keep a volunteer activity fresh. The recent trend of voluntourism, or volunteer vacation, is a great way to revive your relationship with volunteering by taking a few days of your vacation and dedicating them to addressing a need in a foreign community. The goal is to stay as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed about your volunteering as you were on January 1st all year long!
