This year, I will work out every day.
This year, I will start my diet.
This year, I will save more money.
Have I ever really made a New Year’s resolution? No. And here’s why.
I have a strong dislike for New Year’s resolutions. If you are one of those people that likes to make them. Please stop reading now, and thank you for visiting Art. Mind. Therapy. However, if you are on the fence or also dislike them, or simply curious to hear what my opinion is, please proceed to finish this blog post.
Here’s my beef with New Year’s resolutions: why wait? Why is it necessary to wait until January 1st to start making a change in your life. Why not make the change right now?!
Anecdote: I recently started bicycling to work. I have a 2 mile commute and I feel bad making the drive every day, so I started to bicycle to work at least 3 days a week. When did I start?, you ask. I started two Tuesdays before Thanksgiving - so November 19th. Why did I choose this day? Because I decided on Monday, November 18th that I wanted to start bicycling to work, so I started the next day. I had no reason to procrastinate and start on a later day because “I needed to start at the beginning of the week” or “I will start after Thanksgiving.” No! I started when I decided to start because I was serious about making this change in my life. And it was a good way to get some cardio into my rather mundane yoga-centric workout routine.
Why do I have to wait until the Monday of a week to make a change to my life? Or to wait until the first of the month? Or January 1st, 2020? Why can’t I make the change when I want to? Well, you see, I can make the change when I want to. And this further leads into my dislike for New Year’s resolutions. People like to make excuses before making changes to their life because - well, I don’t know why actually, but I suspect that it is because many people like things to start on an “appropriate” start day. Tuesday, November 19th does not seem like an “appropriate” start day to most people, but to me it was just fine. Because I said that I wanted to make a change and I was serious about making that change.
That’s the other thing about making a New Year’s resolution. If you are serious about making a change in your life, you will not wait until the beginning of the week, month, or year to make that change. For an alcoholic trying to quit, it is not about having that “one last bender” and then they will stop. If they are serious about quitting, they will make that decision for themselves without hesitation. If you are serious about making a change in your life, about quitting something that you think is not healthy for you, you will make that change right then and there. No waiting. No procrastinating. No excuses.
So instead of making a New Year’s resolution that will likely be abandoned by February 1st, 2020 - because, let’s be honest, we have all seen the increase in gym attendance for the month of January and then everyone seems to disappear, and I’m not talking about their waistlines - make a resolution for yourself today that increases your motivation to continue growing as an individual. Maybe it will encourage hope, maybe it will encourage you to work harder, maybe you will be encouraged to try new things. Make a change for yourself today, or yesterday, or on a random Thursday in April, that you want to make, that you feel passionately about, that you will continue to work towards no matter the weather or the obstacle. Make your own decision to start bicycling to work at least 3 days a week. And do it for you. Otherwise, why are you doing it?
