I always considered New Year’s resolutions to be one of those things you just do. Like brushing your teeth or washing your hair. It’s probably in your best interest to do it, and it’s kind of weird and necessitates a bit of judgment if you don’t. Recently, however, I’ve discovered that making New Year’s Resolutions are more for me like making my bed. I don’t always do it, but when I do, I tend to ruin the job five minutes later. I don’t always make New Year’s resolutions, but when I do, I ruin those within a week by not sticking to them.
I have recently made the observation and come to the conclusion that actually, I don’t have to make New Year’s resolutions at all. It’s not like anyone is really forcing me to do so. And after overanalyzing the whole thing, I have decided that maybe they aren’t the best way to go about achieving something for me.
It feels like these resolutions have gotten to a point where no one even cares how anyone goes about achieving them as long as you’ve publicly proclaimed that you will be doing something different and you will change things up this year. In previous years, I haven’t even cared about whether or not I achieve whatever New Year’s resolution I derive from my head the night before January 1st. My presumed duty was fulfilled the moment I announced I would stop drinking three coffees a day or work harder/play less.
Does anyone actually ever check in with you in the middle of July and make sure you’re still going to the gym everyday, still eating healthy, still being nice to your sister? No, most likely not. I typically repeat the pattern of feeling really motivated and dedicated for a week. By January 12th at the absolute latest, I’m done, and a month later, I’ve completely forgotten about my promise and am busy thinking of something I guess I should probably give up for lent.
Nothing I’ve ever achieved in my life can be attributed to a New Year’s resolution. A recurring theme in my world of desires is traveling the world. I will do so in the New Year, but I have already begun that journey long before January 1st 2016 will roll around. Another one is being a healthier person and at least making an effort to exercise when I can and eat vegetables every night. That wasn’t a product of any resolution either- that was born from my innate tendency to try to avoid the Abroad 15 (just as terrifying and real as the Freshman 15).
If you have a goal in mind, why would you wait for a given day? Why has that day been inflated and put on a pedestal and elected the Beyoncé of days? Well, probably because it’s the first day of the New Year. But who injected it with the power to be the determiner of our success and to hold in its hands our futures and hope that our dreams will come true?
This is not to put down those who are truly inspired and fulfilled by making New Year’s Resolutions. In theory, it is a nice idea, and if you wake up on the morning of January 1st and decide that you want to change yourself and your habits, then good for you and you should do that. But it doesn’t have to be that day. If you want to make a change in your life, do it now. Don’t wait for some date that culture has determined is the date you should start fresh and new.
I am a big fan of waking up in the morning and being spontaneous and just deciding to do something, anything. 10 years ago, it was waking up and deciding I had to go the American Girl Doll store in New York City, much to my parents’ dread. Today, it was waking up and deciding that I would not fail my Irish Culture final exam, despite my extreme lack of knowledge in anything involving that. Whatever it is, begin your quest for success the second you decide you want to have a quest for success. Start the New Year a better person. Don’t wait for January 1st to be a better person.