It’s a new year again. For most people, this marks the beginning of a new, “fresh” start and another set of goals for the year. It makes sense; a whole year has gone by, full of ups, downs, growth, and change. All the stuff that happened in the past year seems long gone and now it’s time to work on things so you can have an even better year. I think people find comfort in a fresh start and feel motivated by everyone else who are creating new goals for themselves. However, I feel like our society puts a little too much emphasis on “new year” resolutions. It’s great to make goals for yourself but I don’t think the beginning of a new year always marks the perfect time to set these goals.
Resolutions can be made anytime, anywhere, and at any point. If something in your life doesn’t feel right, you can change it. If it’s June and you feel like starting a new diet, go for it. If it’s August and you want to start yoga classes, go for it. If it’s your goal to land a job in New York City, start the application now. There’s nothing stopping you from reaching your goals at any time of the year. If it’s something that you know will better yourself and make you feel accomplished and happy, then it’s something worth striving towards.
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Your life doesn’t automatically reset at the beginning of the year; you’re still the same person with doubts and worries and flaws. If you plan on becoming a whole new person when the year starts, you’re almost always going to disappoint yourself. Of course if you feel like you want to change your hair, get a new wardrobe, break up with someone, start eating healthy, I encourage you to do so. But make sure you’re doing them for the right reasons and not just because it’s the new year. You’re still yourself, and sometimes it’s fine to remain how you are. Or, maybe you had an amazing year and have no intentions of changing a darn thing.
More often than not, the goals we make at the beginning of the year start off with a bang, but then sort of fizzle out after a few weeks of working at it. We realize we should’ve started with smaller goals first rather than a big general one, or school/work got way too busy, etc. I myself have plenty of experience with this. I think it’s the false illusion of being able to tackle any goal we set our minds to solely because it’s the start of a new year! This can make us feel discouraged, like we failed at ourselves. But that shouldn’t ruin the rest of the year. We have hundreds of new days and new chances. Goals don’t always pan out how we planned them to and that’s okay. It’s the action of making them and going after them that matters.
There’s nothing wrong with making New Year resolutions. Maybe it gives you that extra push to get something going. I encourage everyone to set goals for themselves. Just remember you can set a goal anytime you want, especially if it’s a more convenient or realistic time in your life.
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