Many people set New Year’s resolutions each January and promise to do better than last year. These resolutions can include eating healthier, exercising more, or picking up a hobby they’ve always wanted to try. These New Year’s resolutions are supposed to be motivating, like a chance to reset and become a better version of yourself. But in reality, they often do more harm than good, creating unnecessary stress and frequently setting people up for disappointment when they don’t accomplish their goals.
The problem with New Year’s resolutions begins simply with their mentality. The idea of a New Year’s resolution encourages an ‘all or nothing’ mindset, where either you’re crushing your goal or completely failing. This mindset doesn’t leave much room for reality, and how it’s unrealistic to expect to perfect your New Year’s resolution so quickly. For example, let’s say someone’s resolution is to exercise every day. If this person misses one week due to being sick or simply having a busy schedule, they will most likely feel like they’ve failed, even if they’ve started exercising more than before. This pressure that people put on themselves is extremely overwhelming, often leading people to forget or give up on their resolutions completely… Even barely a week after the new year.
In addition, these resolutions that people create are usually unrealistic in the first place. The excitement of a new year often makes people overestimate themselves and their abilities to change themselves with one resolution. “One time, I set my resolution to stop procrastinating my homework, and I ended up disappointing myself by not following through immediately,” Junior Roshun Murthy said. Goals like these are evidently difficult to achieve for many people, as many things are easier said than done. When the goals don’t work out, they leave people disappointed.
Another issue is the timing of resolutions. Of course, New Year’s resolutions are on January 1, but this time of the year is one of the hardest times to have a resolution. In fact, for many, January is the hardest month to change. January falls when most people are still having a post-holiday slump, the weather is cold, and they’re returning to their busy schedules where they can’t fit in any time to achieve their goals and resolutions. Trying to achieve resolutions during an already challenging time of the year only adds to the stress of someone’s everyday life.
Some may say that resolutions motivate people by giving them a clear direction on what they want to do. While that may be true, the stress of resolutions can sometimes outweigh any potential upsides. The pressure to stick to resolutions perfectly usually makes people struggle to see any progress they’ve made.
Self-improvement goals shouldn’t be tied to a specific day. If you want to make a change in your life, why should you wait until January 1? The best time to work towards a goal or try to improve yourself is when you are the most motivated and open to helping yourself, not just the first day of the year.
