New Year, New Me: The Resolution Debate
It's January first, you are sitting at your kitchen table taking your first sip of coffee, next to your smoothie, before your workout class. Maybe you are Cleaning your apartment to rid it of the old energy and welcome the new in order to jumpstart your new year reset. The pressure to become the best version of yourself in the new year just gets to be too much. By January fifteenth, you have come to terms that not much has changed, and now you are just left feeling disappointed that you could not achieve the perfection that you have sought after. The resolution slump has hit you.
Today, people are so caught up in creating a list of resolutions to start the year off right, but why do we still hold ourselves up to an idea started by the Ancient Babylonians? Time has certainly changed in the past 4,000 years. They made promises to their gods that they would pay off their debts, or make up for their wrongdoings to live up to the gods’ expectations, but somehow that has converted into sticking to the new trendy diet, or workout plan. The resolution survey from Statista shows that more than half of Americans had resolutions relating to weight loss, or dieting, while only 19% wanted to reduce time scrolling online or reduce job stress. Forbes reports that 62% of people feel pressured to come up with resolutions, and they do not fully have the commitment from the start. Because of this only 9% of people surveyed actually admit to keeping to their resolution till the end of the year. Most people only making it to February.Going into the new year, a time that is supposed to feel like a fresh start, having to deal with that stress is the opposite of how a resolution is supposed to feel.
The idea of setting goals for yourself is something that should be considered and have meaningful effort, but just because the last two digits of the year changes, doesn't mean there will be any more success in turning them into a reality.
The idea of waiting for the new year allows for the changes to keep being pushed off. If in October you want to start saving money, why not start then? Why does a month determine the state of reaching your goals, or making that change? When the new year is approaching, now a laundry list of changes are hanging over like a raincloud. Only to feel a sense of being overwhelmed when it's time to make the plan to attack all of them at once.
This year, many resolutions stemmed from Tik Tok where the idea of being “that girl” has taken over. Being “that girl” is being the most optimized version of yourself. This includes waking up early, doing an extensive skincare routine, and getting in a workout followed by the most aesthetically pleasing breakfast plate you have ever seen. If only it were that easy. With the resolution to live up to that lifestyle also comes the career goals, saving money, and making more time for family and friends. Seemingly, this is the perfect way to live out the new year, but if we could all be “that girl,” why wouldn't the world already be filled with them?
The pressure of the new year resolution is something that could be resolved if the idea of a fresh start could be transferred into any time of the year. The saying we have all had drilled into our heads for as long as we can remember is “There is no time better than the present,” and that does have validity. If you want to start something that you feel could better your life. Start when you think it. Making goals for yourself and trying out new routines or habits is something everyone can benefit from at any time of the year. Going into every day with an open mind of how you can change what isn't working for you by starting when you feel its best, is the way to make progress any time of the week, month, or year. Although having new years resolutions seems to be the beginning of a fresh start, it is far too easy to fall off, so start now, in three months, or in two weeks. Progress is progress no matter what, the new year just gives us more months in the calendar to fulfill your potential and happiest version of you.
