Now that January is finally coming to a close, let’s talk about new year’s resolutions. Whether you happily (or drudgingly) adopted your choice of resolutions for 2022, or the concept merely reminds you of bygone failed attempts, I believe there are some realities we should confront.
Each time a year comes to an end, we get bombarded with posts of people celebrating their achievements on social media. A co-worker gave up smoking, a family member devoted more time to their kids while another that you happen to follow on Instagram reveals their successful fitness transformation. And of course, the celebration is warranted no matter how minor or colossal the achievement, because isn’t life all about marking the milestones?
On the flip side, however, the sheer volume of these testimonies that flood our newsfeeds each concluding December has the ability to force comparison upon us, to push the maladaptive belief that the only reason we aren’t celebrating the same accomplishments is down to our own failures or lack of effort.
I believe the issue lies in the fact that, thanks to social media, more of us are comfortable sharing great feats of determination and success, while there is a stark lack of communication about facing difficulties and adversity. Everything feels like a competition. There is pressure to be the best at something, the fittest, the smartest.
Sitting on the sidelines of the internet, it’s easy to be convinced that everybody is training to run marathons and progressing in their dream careers
We often omit the fact that this realm is not an accurate reflection of reality. Sitting on the sidelines of the internet, it’s easy to be convinced that everybody is training to run marathons and progressing in their dream careers. But it is the constant repetition of the same content that plants this idea in our heads and exerts pressure on us to do the same. There is no reason to associate failure with keeping your life as it is. Must you be able to run a marathon? Must you give up drinking alcohol? Must you have less than two hours of screen time a day? Absolutely not.
Don’t get me wrong – making positive changes to your lifestyle by your own autonomous choosing is a great move to make. What is crucial to remember, however, is that the only lasting and worthwhile resolutions to undertake are those you truly want to, and are not merely an ideal of what seems necessary to conform with society. Too often, the new year’s resolutions we think are entirely “normal” are far from easy – they involve the shifting of our status quo and the discomfort and difficulty that accompanies major life alterations. If you try and do not succeed, such an outcome is not a failure. Maybe the change merely necessitates more manageable goals, so go easy on yourself.
This leads me to another question – why “new year’s” resolutions? Why must we wait until January 1st to bring about a brusque shift in our habits? We celebrate the new year in the hope that the next 365 days will be more fruitful. What better way is there to determine this than by taking action in our own hands? “New year, new me!”
The concept of a “new year” offers a welcome prospect of newness and novelty, but it’s arbitrary. Why not decide to take up jogging in mid June? We ought to challenge the ingrained belief that improving ourselves is a mammoth undertaking which has to coincide with other external changes taking place on the calendar. We can, and should, set ourselves goals at times of our own choosing, and at our own pace. The culture of new year’s resolutions encourages the unrealistic notion that we cannot amend our initially set goals if we note that we may have initially been too ambitious.
Must you be able to run a marathon? Must you give up drinking alcohol?
New year’s resolutions are not these inflexible entities that cannot be adapted to one’s own needs or desires, and, in valuing and perceiving them more subjectively, they can evoke valuable inspiration and motivation.
I was browsing through Reddit (an insatiable habit of mine that I have been trying to reduce) on one of the last remaining days of 2021 and came across a post about a new year’s resolution success story. This particular individual had taken a picture of themselves next to a stack of books that nearly matched their height. The towering stack consisted of all the books they had read in 2021.
I looked at the picture in awe, thinking about what an amazing feat this is and reflecting upon my own waning reading habits over the past couple of years. I felt somewhat guilty, but it also prompted me to look joyfully back on the books I have read and reinvigorated my desire to read more. Maybe I could cut a bit of the Reddit-ing to find the time?
All I know is this: any new changes I endeavour this year will be purely for myself, and on my own terms.
