I don't know about you, but I've grown tired of the age old saying "New Year, New Me" that unfortunately graces my Instagram feed on repeat from New Years Eve to the end of the first week in January. I'm not saying that I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions or that it's ridiculous to use the new year as a fresh start—but so many people break their resolutions just a few short weeks after they make them, it makes you question the reason people make them in the first place.
Honestly, New Year's Resolutions are a stupid concept. Choosing a single day to start a major life change and expecting to stick with it is kind of ridiculous and completely illogical. Most people make resolutions that are wholly unrealistic, to loose 100 pounds, to quit smoking, to save money, to work harder, to have more self-esteem.
Goals like that just aren't realistically achievable.
It's really difficult to keep promises that we can't measure like "working harder". What does that mean? How do we measure it? Oh, you want to loose 100 pounds this year? Me too, now how can we achieve that? You can't just make one huge overarching goal and expect to accomplish something. You have to make smaller, measurable, achievable goals. Maybe if you want to lose 100 pounds you could make a resolution to go to the gym for an hour three times a week, even if that means you're merely walking on a treadmill. Or if you want to quit smoking you could start by cutting down on the amount you smoke each week. New Year's Resolutions can be great but only if we make ones we can actually accomplish.
This is something that has taken me forever to understand. Hell, I still have issues with it. I have these big dreams, big goals and delusions of grandeur, but I never seem to think it through enough to make it a measurable process. Do you know how long it takes to loose 100 pounds? Correctly, it can take upwards of a year. Making a resolution like that with no plan of follow through is a resolution that will never be achieved.
So when you start to make a New Year's resolution this year, think about that big overarching goal that you want to accomplish sometime in the future and maybe make your resolution a baby step on the way to that goal. Give yourself a timeline, a way to measure what you're achieving, and a step two. That way you're starting something you can actually finish.
In my opinion New Year's Resolutions are stupid but goals are not. So, instead of trying to achieve the impossible "New Year, New Me" resolution join me in trying to accomplish something small and measurable and go from there.
