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Why I Don't Make New Year's Resolutions

Let's be honest, we never follow through.

By Myriah Published 5 years ago 3 min read
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Source: Pixabay

It’s that time of year again. Your social media friends are all claiming “New Year, New Me!” And we all know, most of them aren’t going to change a single thing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure a lot of them had all these good intentions. The problem lies in that a new year doesn’t actually mean you have any real motivation to make all these changes and improvements. That’s exactly why I don’t make resolutions. A new year just is not enough to motivate me to actually make the changes I want to see in myself.

The initial motivation and inspiration to make changes as we head into a new year is fantastic and can really get some people off on the right foot. I feel like we should all reflect on the change we want to see in ourselves! But I also feel like we need to be realistic with ourselves. January, the middle of winter in the US, is not the best time to start running for your average person. It’s not like our day to day lives suddenly change with all this free time to accomplish all of our well-intentioned new goals. Also, we’re all human. We will have slip ups and mistakes. It can really diminish your motivation when you’re not completely determined to make that life change you’ve been craving.

Personally, I feel, to make real change, I need to want it. It needs to be almost an obsession to get me motivated enough to see it through completely to the end. It can’t just be because it’s a new year. Or because summer’s coming up. Or for any small reason. As soon as a week or two has passed, I’m not really going to care about my resolution that much. I probably won’t even remember what it was I said I was going to do!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think resolutions are stupid. They’re just not for me or people like me. I completely encourage small New Year’s Resolutions. Something manageable. Make it fun, too! Instead of resolving to exercise more, make your resolution to go hiking more! Or to explore new areas around your town. Resolutions shouldn’t be so stock and bland. Who really wants to exercise more just because it’s now 2019? I’m sure there aren’t many.

New Year’s resolutions go back thousands of years. Originating, according to history.com, with the Babylonians, resolutions were originally promises to the Gods. The idea of resolutions have gone through a lot of religions and changes to get to where they are today. Instead of promises to our Gods, we now make half-hearted promises to ourselves.

The concept itself sounds wonderful. “New year, new me!” But it’s not really that realistic when it comes down to it. We all want to be a new and improved version of ourselves. We can’t force it, though. A date on the calendar isn’t going to bring around this revolutionary change that suddenly makes us work out daily, drink the perfect amount of water, or become hyper-organized and productive overnight. It takes work. A lot of work, if we’re really being honest with ourselves.

You don’t need a new year to get started. Meaningful change can happen at any point within the year. Make it fun and exciting. You don’t have to wait. You, also, don’t have to make some grand resolution just because everyone else is doing it. You might just end up disappointed in yourself and worse off than when you began. Find the motivation within yourself. It’s there for all of us. Make your art. Love yourself. Live your dreams. Don’t wait for a magical date to start.

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About the Creator

Myriah

Myriah writes for fun in her spare time when she’s not working with or playing with dogs. She enjoys writing fiction, especially horror but is trying to branch out to other styles!

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