Why The "New Year New Me" Mentality Is Self-Destructive
Happy New Year, Steemians!
I'm pretty sure you guys know a lot of people in your lives or on the Internet who like to start every new year with the same old words: "New Year, New Me", indicating that this year is gonna be the one where they change themselves for the better and make a fresh new start.
Maybe you did so once yourself too, and as motivating as this might sound at first, let's be honest, you soon began to realize that it doesn't really work in the long run because of numerous reasons.
We as humans, in the pursuit of wanting to do great things, set the bar way high for ourselves and then get disappointed and embarrassed of ourselves when we are not able to keep our new year's resolutions. In the want to achieve so much more, we end up achieving nothing.
This, not only lowers our self-esteem, but also makes us feel guilty and not wanting to work on improving ourselves anymore as we start making excuses because it didn't work the last time.
New Year As An Excuse
I have said this before in some of my previous articles and I'll say it again: there are no absolute right times, just right decisions. Using the hype of the new year to start something new is pretty much useless because as the hype dies off, so does your will to commit to that resolution.
You shouldn't wait for a new year to start an action that might change your life. In fact, you shouldn't wait for any special occasion. If you want to make a change, don't depend on these moments of "highs" but rather start as soon as possible.
If you want to start working out and get in shape, you don't wait for January 1 when literally every gym is filled with other people doing the exact same mistake of depending on the hype of the new year.
Try visiting the same gym a week or two later, and you'll see just how fast people break their resolution. It's the same with any kind of goal that you set for yourself. Surely, it feels good to make new year resolutions, and if you are gonna do so, at least be mindful of them and where they may lead you.
New Year, New Broken Resolutions
If you do a quick Google search, you will find that only "Less than 8% of people actually stick to their resolutions each year". That's a lot of unkept resolutions. And the reasons are usually the same: setting the standard too high, unrealistic goals, laziness, etc.
As we break more and more resolutions each year, we slowly start to harm our own mental image. We start off all excited and energized, and end up lazing in bed and not giving a fuck about the change that we promised to make. This makes us feel hopeless and unwilling to make any future plans.
Part of the reason why we don't stay consistent with our resolutions, I think, is because we become comfortable in how things are going. After some time, when the hype cools off, we no longer feel that need to change things. And as you know, comfort doesn't offer progress. Discomfort and desire does.
If you really want to keep your new year's resolutions, the easy answer would be to simply not make any but rather slowly start to take the same actions and integrate them with your lifestyle.
This way, the changes won't be overwhelming and you won't be depended on the "highs" to commit yourself. But if you want to make resolutions anyway, it's important to know your limits and the time you will have to spend for them.
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You write the best blog posts on self improvement. I never make resolutions. I agree with this article entirely. If you want to start a new program, habit, initiative, whatever, don't wait until the new year. Any time is good time to a new you--if you really want a new you.
Exactly. Like I said, there are no absolute right times, just right decisions. If you feel the need to change something about yourself or your life, slowly taking actions for it works way better than trying to name it under a resolution only to forget about it days later.
But on the same side, it's not harmful to make resolutions if you've thought them through. Like for me, I don't really make resolutions either, but I turned 18 this past November and I want this to be a new road ahead. So, my resolution (or whatever you wanna call it) is to find a job. I love working on Steemit, but I think it's time I step in the real world too.
Thanks for reading and the comment :) Much appreciated!
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