Another year down the drain. Tis the season for high hopes, new goals and making promises to yourself that you’re bound not to keep.
Let’s face it, we all do it. We approach the restart of the calendar year as a clean slate, hoping to try yet again to be the person we want to be.
Every single New Year’s, we tell ourselves that this will be the year! Quit smoking, quit drinking, lose weight, pay off debts or get a promotion. Yet when December rolls around, things just so happen to be the same as last year.
There are several reasons as to why New Year’s resolutions are redundant and nothing more than a fad.
First and foremost, everyone decides that come January 1st, we go cold turkey on our old ways. This one magical day will mark the beginning of a complete 180 degree transformation.
We have already set ourselves up to fail with these unrealistic expectations. Change takes time. Baby steps, people.
If you want to change something, it takes a long-term commitment, hard work, patience and determination.
In our modern world, we need to have everything instantly, so once we realize “this is taking too long” or “this is too difficult,” the goal fades away after just a month or two.
Not only are you setting the bar too high, but you’re just stressing yourself out from the jump. You already have goals from last year, so these lovely New Year’s resolutions are just piled on top your preexisting goals. Seems a bit overwhelming to me.
Now, when you’re a college student, that’s way more than enough to trigger a nervous breakdown right in the beginning of the semester.
Here’s a wild thought: why do we need to wait until the beginning of another year to make changes in our lives?
Maybe instead of putting things off until the New Year’s, we should approach every single day as a clean slate.
Here’s an even more wild thought: you don’t have to change anything at all. If the going is good and you’re content with it, then why give in to the pressure to make some dramatic change?
Just because it’s a new year, doesn’t mean you have to start drinking green stuff and running a mile every day.
However, if you honestly want to start drinking that green stuff and running every day, then make the commitment tomorrow, not January 1.
Not to be unbelievably cliché, but every single day that you wake up is another chance to make your life the way you want it to be. It’s another chance to do what makes you happy and to be the person you want to be.
So don’t take those days for granted because they’re limited, and if you do make changes, don’t do it out of peer pressure. Do it for you.