August is over.

So here it is. The last day of the longest month of the year (at least it seems the longest month to me). You’re most likely two weeks into school. How’s it going? Are you staying true to those goals you set for yourself this school year? (If you haven’t set any, you may want to flip to pages 24-25 of the August issue of ec.) True, the school year is still new and you may not have had much of a chance to meet some of your goals yet, but the key to meeting goals is to re-examine them often and see how you’re doing.

Case in point: I set a goal back in January to go to bed on time. Turns out, not getting enough sleep was making the mornings extremely tough (especially the getting out of bed part). On top of that, my energy level was low, my face was breaking out, and I was pretty grouchy at times. Because I started preparing for an April half marathon in January, I knew that sleep would be vital to my training.

While there were lots of reasons for me to go to bed early, I still wanted to stay up late. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. Some rerun is on, a friend keeps texting you, or you’re not ready to put down that book just yet. Whatever the distraction is, it seems much more appealing than sleep. But when morning comes, you’re regretting your decision to not go to bed, right?

It’s easy to see why getting enough sleep is an important goal to set. If you don’t get enough, you don’t function well. (I hope it’s one of your goals this year to get enough sleep; most teens don’t.) But what about some other goals that you might have set with less tangible or immediate results? Like being a better friend, respecting your teachers, or getting closer to God this school year? All goals take time and commitment. And most are easier to achieve with a little accountability. For me and my sleep goal, my boyfriend took it upon himself to make sure that he took me home or called before my bedtime so that I would be able to get enough sleep. Having him hold me accountable about getting to bed on time has been a bigger help than he even knows.

Maybe getting enough sleep is a silly example. But it’s a good goal. I hope you’ve set some good goals for yourself this year. If you have, revisit them now to see how you’re doing. If you haven’t, take some time to set some. And know that ec is here for you if you need any help with those goals. Just check out pages 24-26 and 51 of the August issue for more on this topic.

See you in September! :)