Happy New Year! We’ve finally made it into a new decade — the 21st-century take’s on the legendary Roaring Twenties, the second decade of the third millennium, whatever! No matter what your perspective on 2020 may be, it’s undeniable that something about the ringing in of a new year is a memorable event. As someone born in the late 90s, leaving behind the 2010s (my teenage years) felt extremely strange and forced me to think more deeply about my plans for the future. What classes should I next semester? How should I spend my summer break? Should I apply to graduate school, or would job-hunting be a better fit for me? These questions keep me up at night, but time only continues to race on.
Seeing as it’s only January, one would think that now would be the perfect time for me to writing down my New Year’s resolutions, but I don’t plan on doing so for several reasons.
Photo by Cristofer Jeschke
1. It’s burdensome. I don’t know why, but the phrase “New Year’s resolutions” sounds heavy and makes me feel as if I’ll face terrible consequences if I can’t accomplish the stuff I planned on achieving. Though I used to get excited about organizing my resolutions, I recently decided to create a set of goals instead. “Goals” seem less daunting and encourage me to actually make an effort, even if those efforts end up being steady baby steps.
2. My resolution deadlines are too extreme. I guess it’s because I like quick, effective solutions, but I’ve always been bad at making achievable resolutions. In the past, I’d come up with New Year’s resolutions that are attainable (e.g. “Lose — kgs…”), slap on a ridiculous deadline (e.g. “…within two weeks.”), and get upset at myself if I didn’t succeed — which, more often than not, I hadn’t. After years of cycling through this routine, I eventually realized that realistic targets need to come with realistic timelines.
3. New Year’s resolutions = dramatic life changes. Most people enter the new year with hopes of transforming into a better version of their old selves; while there’s nothing wrong with that, the unspoken rule that New Year’s resolutions have to be life-changing makes the whole thing so intimidating. We shouldn’t have to start the year with unnecessary mental pressure! Sure, I want to lose weight, learn a new language, and pick up a productive hobby, but I don’t necessarily feel the need to push that to the front of my mind as soon as 23:59 crosses over to 00:00 on the 1st.
4. It’s just not for me. The thought of having to kick off the year with New Year’s resolutions stresses me out — you’re telling me I need to know what I want to do this year…now? No, thank you. I prefer setting goals because they can be incorporated into your life at any point of the year, meaning I can take my time in outlining the steps I’d need to take to properly achieve them. In contrast, New Year’s resolutions only “count” if they’re finalized within the first few weeks of January.
Photo by Isaac Smith
Everyone has a different way of improving themselves, and making New Year’s resolutions is one of them. Although it’s a popular way to think about how you want to change, I’ve come to learn that it’s a tradition that doesn’t quite work for me. I’m planning on moving through the year and setting goals accordingly. Hopefully, I’ll be able to accomplish them!
(Of course, good luck if you’ve set resolutions for this year! I wish you all the best in whatever challenge you’ve decided to take on.)