It’s New Years plus nine days and I’m wondering what happened to this little thing called motivation. Resolutions have returned like the Ghost of Christmas Past to haunt my Christmas Future, as I once again make promises I know I won’t keep.
I even started early this year. I decided on three things I wanted to change or accomplish on Boxing
Day and I felt rather proud of myself for that. But that was a year ago already…
Alright, let’s begin where all new years should begin: with what I chose as my resolutions. I decided my first one would be to get fit. I’m not overweight and I don’t have body image issues, but I know I can’t run as fast as I once could, and I’m breathing heavier than I was in first year when running up Clearihue’s staircases, so getting fit couldn’t hurt, right?
Number two was to eat healthier. Yes, that’s a major part of number one, but I knew this resolution wouldn’t last much past January, so I figured it was a resolution to stop eating Christmas junk in the New Year. My third resolution was to be more active on the iPhone app Instagram, because I like taking photos and I want to be more creative.
Where do these three resolutions stand today?
Number one: fitness. I’ve spent more time watching TV than I have walking; I haven’t seen a gym let alone been in one; and I haven’t even had to run for a bus yet this semester. I guess my will to be fit was beaten out by my desire to watch the Canucks beat the Bruins (not to mention my current addiction to Top Gear).
Number two: eat healthier. I cheated on this one. Because I made the resolution before New Year’s, I ate all the Christmas baking I could in the days leading up to 2012 and then came home from my family vacation to a house that had no Christmas baking in it. In a way, I’ve kept this resolution – but only because I made myself sick in the days before New Years eating as much junk as I could. And trust me, just because I’m eating less Christmas baking now than I did last week doesn’t mean I haven’t had my fair share in 2012 as well.
Number three: Instagram. Ideally I want 100 people to follow my photos. I know this only comes with massive amounts of good photos, but it was a dream. At this point I have seventeen followers (all from last year), and the one new person I actually conversed and with and whose photo I “liked” hasn’t even followed my stream. That being said, I haven’t added new photos for 15 weeks… (Find and follow me at @befaster on Instagram, I promise I’ll do better!)
Why did I make these resolutions? Even though mine weren’t hard to keep, I still haven’t managed them. I guess we all make these resolutions because we feel we need to, socially, and because we have an innate desire to change. We don’t often follow through, but we’d like to pretend we will.
So here’s my challenge to you: don’t make a resolution just for the sake of it, especially one that you know you won’t keep. Instead, make a promise that is attainable and sustainable and that you are already motivated to do. Even if that means making a promise to continuesomething that you already do, it means you will actually accomplish something, which will make you more likely to succeed the next time. That’s what I learned this time around, and while I will keep working on these resolutions, I will make some better ones which will fit my lifestyle and willpower.
What are some of your resolutions or tips on keeping them? Email me at bfast@shaw.ca and you could have them featured in an upcoming Her Campus UVic article.