According to a University of Scranton study, only 8% of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. So why do we put so much pressure on ourselves by setting a New Year’s goal? Why is it so important to make the decision to do or not do something in order to accomplish a personal goal or break a habit on New Year’s?
I am personally against the tradition of setting a New Year’s resolution; I don’t see any reason to wait for the New Year to attempt to improve yourself. It’s like saying you’re going to start back at the gym on Monday, when you could just start back at the gym tomorrow!
According to Time, the top ten New Years resolutions made are:
- Lose Weight and Get Fit
- Quit Smoking
- Learn Something New
- Eat Healthier and Diet
- Get Out of Debt and Save Money
- Spend More Time with Family
- Travel to New Places
- Be Less Stressed
- Volunteer
- Drink Less
All of these goals are pretty big goals. In order to achieve any of these goals, a great amount of commitment and dedication is required; which is probably why so many people fail. Most of us are way too busy with our lives to pour all of our time into achieving a New Year’s resolution.
By setting yourself a New Year’s resolution, you are basically setting yourself up to fail. The whole idea is to start on the first day of the New Year, and if you stuff it up, most people have the mentality that they have to wait to try again the next year. I believe that if you want something bad enough that you will make it happen. There will be no waiting for a New Year, you will want to start tomorrow.
Don’t get me wrong, I am all for setting goals. Personally I think it’s the best way to achieve something huge; like getting out of debt or losing weight, but people need to remember that big goals like this aren’t achieved over night; they take time. So take the pressure off yourself by setting mini goals that are actually achievable. Most importantly, don’t stress yourself out over it; if you fail, you can start again tomorrow, you don’t have to wait for next year.
I refuse to set a New Year’s resolution. Instead I have a constant list of goals that I would like to achieve. And these goals change all of the time, because it’s my life and I’m in charge. My goals are an every day target, but of course there will be some that will now need to be achieved in 2016; there just wasn’t enough time this year to finish everything. The goals that I would like to achieve for myself in 2016 are:
- Don’t sweat the small things
- Get married in Greece
- Lose the weight that I gained from travelling last year
- Open my cafe
- Have more ‘me time’
I have a few big goals and a few little goals to make it more realistic and achievable. If my big goals seem like they’re failing, I should be able to at least meet some of my little goals and celebrate the achievement.
Even though I don’t set myself New Year’s resolutions, it doesn’t mean I’m against anyone else setting their own; maybe you will be one of the 8% to succeed.
If you are setting yourself a resolution or two, I wish you the best of luck.
Happy New Year!
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