Out with the old and in with the new – 2025 is finally here! Celebrations continue to stretch on well into January’s first week. No one’s quite ready to stop the party, we’re having too much fun playing with our golden sparklers.
Or maybe we’re just living in the past to avoid facing our future, and all those promises we made to ourselves. You know the ones I’m referring to, those pesky little resolutions you make right before the clock strikes midnight. The pledges we make in drunken stupors, our New Year’s resolution.
By far, the most common of the bunch is a promise to eat healthier and start exercising, but a New Year’s resolution could be anything. Maybe you want to learn a new skill or fix your sleep schedule. It doesn’t matter as long resolution is important to you.
That’s what we’re told anyway, but is that true? If that promise to eat healthier was really that important to you, why would “Quitters Day” be so popular? And yes, that is the actual name for the day most resolutions get abandoned – the second Friday of the new year. It might also be a holiday in itself with the number of participants it has.
Perhaps it’s time to consider New Year’s resolutions a thing of the past. A new study on Statistica says that nearly 45% of people in the U.S. don’t even think to make one anymore. That’s not a total shock either, seeing as nearly half these resolutions don’t make it to the end of January. We either aim too high and see our promises are impossible to keep, or we simply succumb to the almighty call of the cookie jar, muttering how one bite never hurt anyone.
But while New Year’s resolutions have slowly been dying out, we aren’t rid of them yet. If you’re one of the few keeping the tradition alive, don’t be discouraged. Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Verywellmind outlined a few things you can do to keep your resolution far into the new year:
Set goals. When you think of a resolution as a commitment rather than a goal, you’re more likely to see it through. Don’t push yourself too hard at the start and get stuck feeling burnt out at the end of the month. Pace yourself throughout the year to keep yourself on track. Remember that the tortoise wins the race, not the hare.
Be realistic. Things don’t change overnight, so don’t expect them to. There will be times when keeping your promises will be hard. Don’t get upset when that happens, we’re only human. Plan and prepare for hiccups. Pick yourself back up and keep going.
Do it with a friend. See if you can find someone willing to partake in your resolution, or someone who will hold you accountable for it. The buddy system is a great way to keep yourself on track. Making a resolution with someone you care about makes it seem less like an obligation. Instead of dragging yourself out of bed to get to the gym on time, you’re just going to see your friend.
However you decide to start your year, start it on a good note. Celebrate past triumphs and look forward to future victories.