It’s February already. Thinking back to only last month, at the start of 2023 many of us may have made New Year’s resolutions; a tradition that seems prevalent every year despite the age-old associations that they never actually work. Constant jokes are thrown around about that one hobby you decided to take up last month, the objective of it now forgotten. In my opinion, a fundamental reason that so many people fail in their resolutions is because we decide to take them up in the depths of winter, a time that we evolutionarily should be focusing on rest and reflection.
I’m not advocating for staying stagnant. Self-improvement is so important as long as we are seeking to improve ourselves for the right reasons. It is important to recognise that we are absolutely fine the way we are and the only reason we should be taking up new hobbies or changing our appearances, for example, is to make ourselves happy. Comparison and guilt will get us nowhere, and we shouldn’t be seeking to prove ourselves to anyone or focusing on how well our friends are doing.
However, if you like so many others feel as though in the dark days of the colder months you would prefer to take evenings slowly rather than perfecting a new workout routine, that’s okay! Many animals hibernate through the winter and the lack of sunlight and shorter days can drain our energy, so it’s understandable that rest should be on our minds. As a capitalistic society the focus is often on being constantly busy, ‘Hustle-culture’ being prevalent in many professional spaces, fixating on using up as many hours of the day on becoming successful. Echoes of this are frequently found on social media, Molly-Mae for example infamously declaring ‘we all have the same 24-hours in a day’, implying taking time for yourself is wasted. After all, universities often put exams in January, and so soon after Christmas these can feel so taxing. New Year’s resolutions play into this mindset, and yet so many people are surprised when they don’t seem to work.
Personally, I find Spring a much more suitable time to implement new habits and changes that I know will make me happy. I know I will have much more energy as the new season begins, meaning I can focus attention on practical goals. Instead of saying to myself, for example, ‘I want to be able to knit this year’, I am saying to myself ‘I want to spend at least forty minutes knitting everyday’. Change will progress naturally this way. I also am seeking to change my mind-set regarding hobbies, focusing on the why of beginning something. For me, knitting means I can enjoy creating something, it is fulfilling and reduces my screentime of my phone. If I concentrate on those aspects rather than beating myself up because it’s taking me ages to complete a specific knitting project, I will always feel successful.
So please, don’t feel bad if you haven’t completed any New Year’s resolutions you might have made, or even if you can’t remember what your original goal was, even if one of your friends has. Everyone is different and you don’t want to burn yourself out, there is always so much time. You can always start again.