A new year is a fresh start. It’s a blank slate, and 365 new days of possibility. I, for one, am a firm believer that it is never too late to turn your life around. “Hey!” you say. “My life doesn’t need to be turned around… maybe just tweaked.” With the the harsh reality that everyone’s life has room for improvement, we approach the new year with high expectations that we can kick every bad habit and problem we’ve ever faced if we want, hope, and try hard enough after January 1.
The problem with picking a date to completely change your life is that it’s a little… unrealistic. New years give you an inflated ego when it comes to resolutions. Realistically, you probably won’t go from reading three books a year to 30 or go from exercising once a month to once a day just because sun came up on the first day of January. Resolutions usually just end up making people feel bad because when February rolls around, they are still living (mostly) the same life they were in December.
The most important part about New Year’s resolutions is to keep on going even when you fail. So what, you haven’t started training for that half marathon you swore you’d run by the end of the year? That doesn’t mean that on Oct. 17 you can’t strap on some running shoes and start training for a 5K. Don’t hate yourself if you fail at your New Year’s resolutions because guess what? New Years is made up! There is no reason why January and December should bookend years. So even if you don’t complete your resolutions, remember that tomorrow is a new day, and it’s never too late to take small steps to being a better person, being healthier, picking up a new hobby, or reaching your dream.