We’ve all been there: the awkward period that occurs during the holidays after all the craziness, just before New Year’s, when everyone begins asking what your resolutions are. For years, I’ve stood there on the spot, frantically scrambling to give them a response such as “lose ten pounds” or “stop procrastinating” that society has for some reason deemed as valid. But why do we need to have resolutions? Why do we equate a new year with a newer and “better” version of ourselves? It was these questions that eventually led me to abandon the notion of “new year, new me.”
When I first decided not to have New Year’s resolutions this year, at first I felt really great about my decision. However, after a couple of scrolls through Instagram, I quickly began to doubt myself. I thought to myself about how I’m going on vacation in July and how easily I could make “Start hitting the gym” one of my resolutions. I also thought of how I showed up to every 8:30 am lecture last semester looking like I had just rolled out of bed (possibly due to the fact that that’s what happened), and how “Become a morning person” would fit so well on my list. Feeling increasingly worse, I turned off my phone and considered why I felt so compelled to have a New Year’s resolution.
It is hard not to get caught up in the chatter of resolutions, but I have come to terms with the fact that no matter how many cheesy “365 new days, 365 new chances” posts I read, they’re not enough to get my butt out of bed to go to the gym, or to not look like a zombie at my morning lectures, and at the end of the day that doesn’t make me a bad person. I like who I am, and quite frankly do not want a “new” one for a new calendar year. While there are always bad habits I can work to improve on, I don’t want to feel pressured to make these changes instantly when the clock strikes midnight. Change takes time, in fact it is scientifically proven that it takes 21 days to break a bad habit. Therefore, we shouldn’t be pressuring ourselves to make changes, and especially all at once. You are you, and a New Year doesn’t require you to change that.
Wishing all of our Her Campus readers a safe and happy 2019!