"New Year, New Me" — the mindset of many people at the turning point of an oncoming year. Browsing through social media, it is very common for me to find friends who list the obstacles they have dealt with and how they (usually) overcame them. Losing jobs, ending relationships, struggles with mental illness, loved ones parting, and being victims of a crime are the most frequent setbacks I read about. They then set out to start off the new year with a clean slate.
While I am proud of friends who have accomplished great things and sympathize with those who had bad years, I always thought it was kind of silly to come up with objectives and a liberating mindset only because it is a certain time of the year. It's not that I'm antagonistic toward people who do this; it's that I am painfully aware of what happens after this temporary metamorphosis.
As a lot of health enthusiasts know, the gym becomes overcrowded at the beginning of the year — full of people who want to work off the holiday weight gain and those whose resolution it is to get in shape. This is the time that I resort to home workouts. However, I know that in a few weeks the gym is going to become its normal self again, and I won't have to fight my way to the weight machines. By this point, it's sad that so many people have either given up on their resolution or have, once again, become too consumed with other aspects of their life.
I know for myself, I get to feel down by the end of the year because of academic stress and the winter blues. If other people are anything like me, it's a relatively similar cycle year-to-year, and who really wants to start off a new year bright-eyed and optimistic, only to be burned out by the end of it, and start the process all over again?
Don't worry, I am not a pessimistic, doom-and-gloom kind of person. While my thoughts can shift negatively due to weighing the realistic but sad aspects of the human condition, I also tend to a little (metaphorical) flame inside myself that always carries a zest for life. When I see people straying from their New Year's resolutions, it makes me want to find a better way for them to accomplish what they want.
What makes the New Year a good time to come up with goals is that it's a culturally-significant holiday that marks the passing of an old age into a new era. Comparatively, August 21 does not hold that much meaning for people, unless it happens to be a personally meaningful date. Why I don't place too much emphasis on New Year's resolutions is because I like checking in on myself through the year.
Whether you're a resolution kind of person or not, you can mark certain dates to analyze the progress of your current or past goals, or come up with new ones. If you like the joyous feeling of New Year's, consider checking in with yourself on other holidays, such as Independence Day, Valentine's Day, or your birthday. Utilizing specific techniques, like SMART goal criteria, is an additional way to continue reaching for your objectives.
Striving to improve your life is a continuous effort, not just something to consider at the beginning of every year. New Year’s is not the sole time for me to evaluate my past and future, but another opportunity to look at how I want to live my life.
