It’s January 1st and you’re feeling empowered as you head into the gym in your brand new workout gear you treated yourself with for Christmas. You have a successful workout and see yourself getting into a good routine—for the next five days. Then the first week of January ends and the cold sets in, the semester begins, and suddenly Netflix seems to be a far more appealing choice than heading out in the cold to the IM building.
Every year, we make resolutions and resolve to be better versions of ourselves, only to break our promises a couple weeks later when the excitement of the new year settles down. According to a 2002 Norcross Research study, just 19% of the roughly 40-50% of US adults that make a resolution follow it through for an entire year. Perhaps we set unmanageable goals or perhaps life takes over and distraction sets in, but maybe we shouldn’t feel guilty for not setting a resolution at all. Maybe this year, instead of feeling like we’ve failed for not keeping our resolution, we should resolve to make small changes that we can keep. Set mini goals for yourself and make an incentive to keep them.
New Years is only a day, and we never know what the new year will bring. If you don’t want to make a resolution, that’s okay too! Just resolve to be the best version of yourself you can be and save the guilt for something more fun…like eating that second cookie.