Now that we’re a bit over two weeks into the new year, it’s much easier to assess the progress or, in many cases, lack thereof, of the new year’s resolutions that people meticulously plan as the countdown nears.
There is a very simple explanation to the annual waves of failure that wash over these lists after the first three days of the year. Besides having to erase the last number of the year when writing the date on school worksheets for a good two months, there is nothing different about every turn of the year.
Obviously, you turn a year older. Obviously, everyone amasses a year’s worth of new wisdom from their interactions with the world and the people around them. However, those two prospects have no real substance, so it’s useless to completely base motivations for a complete self-reinvention on them.
Motivation to change one’s strategy for tackling certain situations in life stems from assessing how they handled the year that is about to close, as well as those prior. It’s clear, though, that this desire to “do better” will only stay fresh for a few days at most without assistance.
Commitment is a huge factor. It’s difficult to instill new habits within one’s lifestyle. At some point there will need to be a conscious effort to implement them into day-to-day life.
That is what’s missing from so many new year’s resolutions. It’s easy to remember to make these changes extremely early on in the year or to promise oneself to alter such habits, because they’re new and refreshing to try. But once it become less exciting, the motivation falters, and in most instances ebbs away to eventually rejoin the current of deeply rooted habits.
There is no true power behind the fact that the Earth has revolved around the sun once more; in all seriousness, anyone can have a “new year” any time they resolve to practice healthier habits for themselves.
The enticing idea of exercising healthier habits and strategies in the new year, though daunting to physically execute, will offer a large deal of satisfaction once real results show.
The lessons we learn from our experiences in previous years are valuable to our development, especially in high school years, and the ways we use them are necessary to figuring out how we can continue to better ourselves.
Find the motivation from within yourself and not the calendar to continue running with the resolutions; allow them to exist beyond the piece of notebook paper where they were born.
Read an alternate opinion on New Year's Resolutions: "On New Year's Resolutions: How Setting Them Can Help Motivate You Throughout the Year" by Kayla Mancilla.
