Happy New Year, Collegiettes, and welcome to 2017. By now you’ve probably seen a million posts on Facebook about losing weight, working out more, or reading new books. However, while wanting to improve who you are is admirable and there’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these resolutions, they’re definitely missing the mark.
One of my favorite bands wrote a song that begins with, “So this is the New Year, and I don’t feel any different.” This feeling is something of which I am an expert. Without fail, I find myself writing a long list of resolutions that are generic, boring, and always the same. “Be nicer,” “write better,” and “drink more water” are just a few. The problem with resolutions like this is that they’re too generic. They state an end result without giving you any idea of how to get there, making every new year feel exactly the same.
These resolutions are immature in that they lack structure but have a lot of passion—the sure-fire recipe for a wayward goal. It’s like when you were a little kid and you decided you wanted to be an artist, so you drew a million pictures for about a week and then got tired of the work and burned out, leaving your dream of being the next Picasso in the tall pile of childhood phases you’d gone through. This means that after week two of your hardcore vegan cleanse, you’ll probably cave in to one temptation or another and will end up feeling ashamed and completely detached from the goal you were so set on before.
In order for a resolution to stick, it can’t be a resolution at all—it needs to be a daily effort or a change in habit. This doesn’t mean you’ll be free of slip-ups—you’ll just be more aware of them and will be able to hold yourself accountable, whether that means reading two chapters of Anna Karenina tomorrow or eating extra veggies for dinner. There needs to be a written and planned structure in order for a goal to be successful, as well as forgiveness for minor slip-ups, rather than self-deprecation.
Not only do resolutions tend to be unforgiving of failure, they also tend to be very negative toward the person you are today. They assume that you’re not enough as the person you are right now, which is completely untrue. While we all can make improvements, this doesn’t mean that we should feel inadequate in the process. This attitude is especially true of exercise and nutrition resolutions.
Think back two weeks ago—before you determined that you needed to cut out sugar. You were probably like the rest of us: enjoying the holidays with family and indulging in some yummy holiday treats. Why is it that because the date added a new number that you are obligated to feel bad about that? Why is it that memes across the Internet focus on intertwining fear and laziness with weight gain?
Don’t get me wrong—health is important—however, most of us don’t spend everyday eating the way we do during the holidays, and even those of us who could use a change in diet won’t succeed because of one moment. All that this sudden obsession with health and fitness does is take the joy and fun out of this season and ask you to think that it’s wrong. Not only is this a rude awakening from the holidays, but it also contributes to the warped ideas our society has about food and exercise in addition to body weight, which can be extremely difficult for people like me, who have struggled with body image and eating disorders.
I’m not saying that resolutions are evil. Having an idea of something you want to improve upon is always a good idea. However, when it comes down to it, true change won’t happen overnight, and it won’t burn out with the passing of the holidays. It will come a little at a time with your conscious effort, and it will make you feel incredible, not inadequate. So reevaluate those resolutions, collegiettes. And have a great New Year.