But also not hold ourselves to them too tightly
Although time is an abstract concept, it feels like there’s a collective sigh of relief now that 2020 is finally over. The world was shaken with 2020’s cruel concoction of mass unemployment, unprecedented levels of stress, and a global pandemic. Now that 2021 has rolled around, people want to regain control over their life choices, and the time comes once again for New Year’s resolutions — this time in higher numbers. Finder, a business news and price comparison website, found in a recent survey that nearly three-quarters of adult Americans are committing themselves to a resolution, a drastic increase from last year. While some might say that resolutions are a fleeting bandwagon one is sure to fall off, I say they’re a fun, healthy way to try something new — regardless of if they stick or not.
When we’re starting new goals, why should they have to come with the pressure that we must succeed at them? This burden of success can act as a barrier, preventing us from starting a new habit. If you want to start running, the idea of having to go for a jog every day thereafter is daunting and could stop you from ever pursuing that first session. (The mindset being you either go hard or go home.) But if you approach the goal with the idea of running once a week, or for only five minutes every other day, that becomes a lot more doable and therefore more motivating. Why not pursue something for the joy of trying something new, pushing yourself past your comfort zone, or seeing how it makes you feel? Maybe you’ll learn through the process that you actually hate cardio. Not every goal will stick, and that’s okay.
The biggest takeaway is that just because you fail your New Year’s resolution doesn’t mean you’re a failure — it still involves you learning something new about yourself. One of the biggest reasons why resolutions fall apart is that they aren’t specific enough. If you find yourself struggling to maintain your resolution past February, you might be able to identify later that you had no game plan. Or, you might realize that you didn’t have a strong “why” to motivate yourself to break an old habit. Even if your goal-making goes completely abysmally this January, you can sit down next month and start to find out why. This can help you come back stronger next time, even if it’s for a different goal.
Lastly, losing track of your resolution doesn’t mean you can’t restart it in February, or March, or any other time of year. If you’ve fallen off the bandwagon for a week, it often feels like it’s not worth trying to get back on track again. You’ve already screwed it up. However, pursuing a goal never has a time limit. If you haven’t gone to the gym in a month, it doesn’t mean you have to give up on going at all. By all means, scale back, but it’s never too late to pick up where you left off. Even if you’re scaling back to once a week for a new hobby, you’ll most likely still be able to see benefits, especially if it’s something health- or diet-related.
Maybe it sounds like I’m being too easy-going with New Year’s resolutions, but I disagree. 2021 represents a time when people want their lives to change, and if there is a will, there is a way. If someone wants to make a meaningful life transformation, they will seek out the resources to help them achieve it. From my perspective, this also often comes with added pressure to make a goal, stick to it long term, and wait until next year to try again if you fail. It’s never too late to make a change, and not every change will serve you; that doesn’t make your goal-setting a total failure. So, go ahead and make resolutions for 2021. I’ll be here celebrating your wins — and your losses.
(Celina Koops/The Cascade)
Chandy is a biology major/chemistry minor who's been a staff writer, Arts editor, and Managing Editor at The Cascade. She began writing in elementary school when she produced Tamagotchi fanfiction to show her peers at school -- she now lives in fear that this may have been her creative peak.
