It’s officially February! How are those New Year’s resolutions coming along? I’m sure by now you’re practically years ahead of your schoolwork and are just waiting for a personal congratulations from the Dean about your stellar 4.0 accomplishments along with the awarding of your Nobel Prize. No? Well, I guess you can forget about grad schools now. Dropping out of college is now your only suitable option. I heard Chilli’s is hiring. But who needs college anyway, right? Because for sure you’ve already dropped those 20lbs and are ready to show off some killer abs in a pair of Victoria’s Secret Angel wings! Wait, what? You say you quit the gym after the second week of January and had a… No! slice of pizza?! Gasp! Might as well hand over all your yoga pants now because let’s be honest, at this rate you’re never going to look good in those again. What a fail.
Okay, chill out and bring it back down to Earth. Every year people seem to make the same New Year’s resolutions: wildly fabulous and wildly unrealistic. Let me rephrase: wildly unrealistic to be achievable in the time frame we allow ourselves. Resolutions are a fantastic way to turn over a new leaf, start fresh, and make changes for the better with the coming of a new year. However, most people never seem to keep them for more than a month, at most. Why is that? Well, clearly we are all shameful, poor excuses for humans who are incapable of self-improvement. Right? Uh, no! Personally, I was one week into winter quarter and I was already failing one of my resolutions so I threw myself a little pity party wondering why I even bothered set such impossible goals for myself every year. Then realization slapped me in the face. Why do we think we can change overnight? Yes, the January 1st is the start of a whole brand new year, but on January 1st somewhere between the champagne, confetti, and kisses did we forget that 2012 was just the day before? You’re not going to magically drop two dress sizes when the ball drops at midnight. Unrealistic expectations can set us up for failure. And most people make a resolution, but not a plan! If your resolution was to get a 4.0, start with going to class, every day. If you told yourself you’d start eating healthy, don’t throw yourself straight into veganism. Substitute soda for water every time you go out to eat. Maybe choose Subway over McDonald’s on your lunch break. Or even just start eating some more fruit every day! It’s okay to relapse a little. Room for mistakes will keep you sane, and on track for keeping your 2013 goals! I’m sure most of us started with training wheels on our bikes and train bras for our, well, you get the picture.
Bottom line: learn to cast a few spells before you throw your name in the Goblet of Fire for the Triwizard tournament. That’s “learn to walk before you run,” for all my non Potterheads out there. So go on and have one cookie. I promise the gym will still be there tomorrow… Or next week. Whenever you’re ready. No pressure.