So, it’s that time of the year. In fact, the year has barely started, but this is the moment when most New Year’s resolutioners give up on their goals. Gym employees roll their eyes when the memberships flood in at the start of the year, because a few weeks later, they shake their heads at the lack of attendance. Or the first weekend of January, you stand determined in the doorway to your messy bedroom, only to abandon your vacuum by the next month. No matter what your New Year’s resolution, it always seems to fade within the first month — or you hold in for a few months, but you get stuck on a “cheat day” that becomes a cheat month, which becomes cheat months.
This January, people have posted about why they feel people should make a resolution or why they think that resolutions are bound to fail. The words you are about to read do not resemble those ideas. While a New Year’s resolution, in this writer’s opinion, is a good idea, I will not preach about why or why not people should make one. This article is for the people who have set a goal but 1) are wavering in their conviction; 2) think they may eventually lose their motivation; or 3) don’t have a resolution now, because they believe they won’t stick to one. It’s not too late to begin a plan.
Why should you keep faith in your resolution? Well, the most obvious answer: It feels amazing to make it through the entire year holding to a personal commitment. You can stop the cycle of self-defeat. If you succeed one year, what’s to stop this from becoming a habit? Once you stick to a pledge, the next one is easier (unless you make it harder, then I won’t lie — it’s not easy at all). Keeping to your New Year’s resolution is just one way that you can improve your confidence. You’ll show yourself that you are capable of making change in your life, and if you have a larger problem you would like to get through, you can build the motivation and certainty that you are capable of overcoming that issue. If you can last 52 weeks committing to one resolution, surely you can conquer something that will maybe take one.
Of course, in order to obtain that accomplished feeling, you should realize that it is possible to stick to your resolution. You just have to be sure that it is the right goal. If you plan to exercise five days a week after typically spending seven on the couch, you’ll become overwhelmed the moment you realize you haven’t properly organized your new schedule. Likewise, if you plan to clean every room in the house each weekend, you will burn out. These extensive goals actually serve to make matters worse — you’ll binge on Cheetos after a workout (because, you know, exercise “cancels out” the junk food), or you’ll neglect your dust buster long past spring cleaning.
The Internet is full of articles that preach the best ways to stick to your resolution. Look here, here, and here to begin. Though some of the items mentioned in these overlap, that’s because they have helped many people. You certainly aren’t limited to just these factors, however. Your New Year’s resolution is just that — yours. Find your shtick, what helps you keep to a plan. No one formula works for everyone. New Year’s resolutions are a time of experimentation, and you have 365 days — 366 this year — to discover the course right for you.
