Is Having A New Year’s Resolution A Bad Idea?

What is your New Year’s resolution?

A New Year’s resolution is supposed to be a self-improvement tool to help you build good habits, like financial responsibility or reading. It can also be used to get rid of bad habits, such as smoking or biting your nails. Some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions in America are to exercise more, lose weight, and save more money. This sounds great, but is a New Year’s resolution the best way to accomplish that? I am going to discuss why a New Year’s resolution may not be right for you.

The Stigma of New Year’s Resolutions

When you hear New Year’s resolution, what do you think of? If you’re like me, a few different things might pop into your mind. As a frequent gym-goer, one of the most prevalent is the thought of the gym’s getting super crowded for the first three weeks of January, only to die back down by early February. This is because of all the “resolutioners” who decide to make the promise to themselves to start working out in the new year, only to break that promise after one month.

Herein lies the problem with New Year’s resolutions… we don’t expect anyone to keep them. Since most people break their resolution anyway, it has become normal and acceptable to not follow through with your New Year’s resolution. That means you are less likely to hold yourself accountable and therefore less likely to actually do, or not do, whatever your resolution is.

Mid New Year’s Resolution

If somebody told me that they are going to start consistently going to the gym, or begin a diet to lose weight or quit smoking during any other time than the new year, I am more likely to believe them. I also believe they are more likely to believe themselves. You don’t need to wait for January 1^st to begin making positive changes to your life. You can do so during any time of the year. This is what I like to call a ‘Mid’ New Year’s Resolution:

A resolution to create a good habit or abolish a bad habit, regardless of the time of the year.

If you feel like making a “New Year’s” resolution in June, why not? Go for it. You won’t have to carry the stigma with you that we discussed earlier. You won’t feel it is more acceptable to fail (either consciously or subconsciously). And you won’t be making the resolution just because it’s “what people do for the new year”. You are making the resolution because it’s something you truly want so badly that you are willing to do it at that very moment.

Alternative to New Year’s Resolution

The Mid New Year’s resolution is great to practice whenever you want to make changes for the better, but I would say there is a better alternative:

Make a list of goals.

The best replacement for creating a New Year’s resolution is to make a list of goals for yourself that you want to accomplish throughout the year. You can also add on smaller goals that will help to get your lengthier goals accomplished. Check your list at least once a month and evaluate your progress. You will find certain things on the list will become less relevant as the year goes on while other things will pop up and become important. That’s totally fine. You can always make some tweaks and adjustments to the list depending on what life throws at you. This way, you will build a consistent list of goals that you are aiming to achieve.

Have A Happy New Year,

Eric