New year, new me, same old story. On January 1, most of us make new year’s resolutions every year without fail. However, every year they do fail – sometimes within just a few days of the year starting.
According to a US News & World report, 80 percent of us break our new year’s resolutions by mid-February, and yet we continue to keep making them – why?
Maybe then, this year, it’s time to stop making new year’s resolutions and avoid the inevitable disappointment.
My experience with new year’s resolutions
In my second year at university, I made the resolution to go to the gym five times a week and to also ban myself from chocolate (I’d eaten way too much chocolate over the Christmas break).
The result? Mid-January, I was lying on the sofa in my gym kit, devouring an extra-large Cadbury’s chocolate bar, while explaining to my housemates that I can’t possibly go to the gym because it’s dark outside.
This was, well and truly, a failed new year’s resolution. At least now I know why it failed…
Resolutions are often unrealistic
First of all, the resolutions we make are often completely unrealistic, or just way too general.
Whether your resolution is to be healthier, keep on top of your assignments, become vegan, quit smoking or go to all of your lectures, simply resolving to do these things will not make them happen.
Real change is made by making small step by step changes, which are gradual and only make a difference over a long period of time. Basically, you need a plan you’re actually going to be able to stick to.
For example, my pledge to go to the gym five times a week when I previously wasn’t going at all was never going to work, because it was too much too quickly. A much more achievable goal would’ve been to go twice a week to start with and then build it up over time.
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