At the beginning of 2017, I sat down and I wrote a list of ten resolutions that I wanted to make in the new year. They ranged from things that should be simple like keeping up with school, to things I knew I wouldn’t be able to do like stop eating pizza and burritos. Looking back I think I only kept one of my resolutions from 2017, and it didn’t even happen until the year was almost over.
Now we are back at the beginning. It’s January of a new year and everyone is making resolutions and failing miserably. People come up with resolutions like going to the gym every day, cooking every meal at home, or only watching one episode on Netflix per day. By making these resolutions, they are setting themselves up for failure. They aren’t even giving themselves the slightest chance of success, because they are setting the standards too high. Last year, I thought my list of resolutions were feasible. I thought it would be pretty easy to change certain parts of my life to help me live better and feel better. I was wrong.
As December came to a close, I wanted to sit down and write a new list of resolutions that probably would have been very similar to the list I wrote last year. But in the true style of a college student, I put it off. Now half way through January, I’ve realized that I’m actually glad I didn’t make any resolutions this year.
Because resolutions tend to be stretch goals that unattainable, they are easy to give up on. By not making resolutions this year, I can set smaller goals at any time. I could start now or I can start in two months. In doing this, I will be less likely to give up, and I will feel more motivated to achieve the goal. For example, people always make the resolution to start working out every day. They usually give up on day three, because they put off going to the gym. If they made the goal in say March to work out twice a week, this would be more attainable because they could go to the gym or they could go for a run outside and enjoy the warmer weather.
I’m glad I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have goals that I want to achieve. It just means I don’t want to set myself up for inevitable failure by making my goals too extreme. I’m starting on some of them now, and when I realize that I have more goals in two months, I will start those then. You don’t have to wait around for a new year or a new beginning to make your goals a reality. Start small now, and when you see results, keep going until you reach your overall goal.