New Year, New Me
Hi,
It is that time of year again. When people decide to make significant life changes once the clock strikes midnight. They decide they will be healthier, workout, travel more, read more, you name it. In other words, people make large promises to themselves that they rarely keep. I’m not saying this to discourage you if you have your own New Year’s resolutions (I personally have some goals for the New Year). Though, I want to share my thoughts on New Year’s resolutions in general and how I’ve tried to improve my own resolutions over the years.
Did you know that only 9-12% of people actually keep their New Year’s Resolutions? [1] I had no idea until I researched this stat but I don’t find this very hard to believe. I think there are two problems with New Year’s resolutions:
1) People disassociate themselves from the person that will be completing the goals.
2) The goals themselves are not tangible or even remotely realistic.
For example, for number (1) it’s fairly easy to set an arbitary goal for myself that I must accomplish by the end of 2023. I could say “I will squat 500 lbs by December 2023.” But the issue with this is that most people see that version of them squatting 500 lbs by December 2023 as a completely different person. Oftentimes, we fail to realize that we will be that person but we will have to make major life changes in order to meet that impressive goal. Though, it’s much more convenient to disassociate from that hard work.
For number (2), we as humans want to achieve great things even if they may sometimes be unrealistic. I would say I’m a shoot for the moon, land on the stars kinda gal but oftentimes I feel as though we don’t even have a plan of action for how we will attempt to land on the moon. That is the first step. Setting goals such as “become healthier and lose weight” mean nothing because there’s no action in this plan. What will you do to become healthier and lose weight? The answer to that question should be your goal. For example, you could say “to lose weight and become healthier I will attend a fitness class three times a week and limit my sugar intake.” Now that is an actionable plan.
I think everyone should have New Year’s resolutions. But I also believe that everyone should have goals for every stage of their life. Goals give us something to look forward to; something to strive for. I truly believe that is a healthy mentality to have. Thus, if you have a New Year’s Resolution for 2023, 2024, etc. just start now! Don’t wait until the clock strikes midnight for something magical to happen. Do it now.
Thanks for reading. Happy New Year!
[1] https://discoverhappyhabits.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
