Why I’m Not Settling for New Year’s Resolutions

Another year has passed and another has come.  As we welcome in 2021, what does this mean?  Will the new year treat us well?  365 new opportunities.  New chances.  New gym memberships?  There always seems to be something about the magic “first.” 

The first day of the new year, many people pull out lists of resolutions.  They sum up their goals for the year on a small sheet of paper (or a book).  But by week 2 those same resolutions are up in flames.  Diet?  Ha!  Pass the fries. Don’t waste your time starting the new year with “new year resolutions.” 

It sounds a bit pessimistic, right?  Don’t get me wrong.  Resolutions are a great thing.  They give drive, bolster ambition.  But a new year’s resolution frankly does not change anything.  The year changes, not you. Still, sounding pessimistic?  I promise you that’s not the initial tone.  A new year, indeed, brings renewed spirit, but the boundless hope placed in New Year’s resolution is actually something that already existed.  You should not walk into the new year wanting to become a different person or idolized person.

A Resolution is Not a Commitment

When New Year’s resolutions are made, they are basically wants written down.  They tend to be simple statements.  “I will diet.”  “I will eat better.” “I will go back to school.”  All good things.  Good things that are forgotten as reality sets, and normal life patterns resume off the holiday high.  Nothing, in fact, is resolved.  Most are not compelled to seriously fulfill their resolution.

Resolutions Are Not a Plan

New Year’s resolutions have been watered down.  A resolution cannot be made all willy nilly.  They need something to “resolve.”  Nine times out of ten, your resolution is actually a problem you have been wanting to solve, but you throw it out there without any follow through.  Have you noticed that for whatever vision is given a plan or mission is developed to see it through. Resolution statements lack action and subsequently the commitment for follow through.  An action plan is what’s needed because resolutions can crumble leaving nothing done.

New Year Doesn’t Bring Change

Limiting yourself to typical beginning markers such as the New Year, do not guarantee “newness.”  The first of the year doesn’t bring change and neither does a resolution.  What does?  Of course it’s you.  Cheesy?  Not quite.  All the New Year does is celebrate the earth’s orbit, back to the same position it start in.  For some people, that is actually their year.  They start and end in the same position, stuck in this static cycle.  The static cycle ends once an assessment of self is made and it is recognized things need to be done differently.

Any changes in your life you want to make, do not require a wait until the first of the year.  Any day, any second you can make big changes in your life.  The endless hope and energy that we put into the beginning of the new year should be put into the potential for positive change.  The bold decisions and risks taken to incorporate change in your life reflect a potential that always existed inside.  It’s just a matter of using it.  Using this potential does not make you a new person.  You’re just a better you.