New year, new approach to resolutions

By Cal Sutton

Being just about anywhere in public during the months of December and January provides you with a near guarantee that you will hear the words “new year, new me.”

Following those words may come a spewed out list of New Year’s resolutions, that when thought about, are entirely achievable. Now before I continue, I want to state that, in general, resolutions are not inherently a bad thing.

New Year’s resolutions have been a thing for 4,000 years, according to the History Channel’s website. As humans, we have become so accustomed to setting these goals for so long that maybe we have lost sight of what the tradition really means.

While New Year’s festivities are said to have started in Babylonia, the ways in which these traditions are celebrated has drastically evolved since then.

Babylonians set intentions to voice their loyalty to their king, return anything they borrowed, and other goals to go into the new year — which used to start in March!

In more modern times, our goals revolve around setting big aspirations of self-change for the year; resolutions that less than 10% of goal-setters actually accomplish, as explained on the History Channel’s website.

Though, there is a reason that a large portion of people drop their resolutions by mid-February every year. Sometimes, people’s goals are just too robust for the new year.

Telling yourself that you are going to change everything about who you are just because the calendar has changed is what makes resolutions so hard to stick with.

When you think about it, nothing really is changing. The date changes, yes, but the change from 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31 to midnight on Jan. 1 does not change who someone is.

You can make your goal for the new year to get stronger, but making your resolution “go to the gym 6 days a week,” when you have never set foot in a gym is far too strict. The chances of a homebody miraculously turning into a “gym rat” on New Year’s Day is unlikely.

If we set loose goals and try not to overexert ourselves coming into the new year, resolutions seem far more likely to be accomplished.

Maybe we should set goals that are not strictly for the new year, either. You can start a habit on any day and the change will be just as meaningful.

Personally, I am tired of feeling forced into a box by society about having to change every fault within myself come each Jan. 1.

In reality, we should set goals for ourselves when we feel it makes the most sense and accommodate to where we are currently.

Stretching ourselves too thin when the new year comes around can lead to burnout and discouragement when there are other times for goal-setting in the future.

Chipping away at progress into making yourself a better person is more important than eating 100% clean every single day of the year or deciding to become a bodybuilder overnight.

New Year’s resolutions should start small. For example, if you have been in a reading slump, you can try to read five books this year rather than finish your whole bookshelf of books.

Maybe you could try one inexpensive hobby a month. If you are a night owl, you can set a goal to go to sleep before 1 a.m. on weekdays.

Whatever you do, make it reasonable and remember that you do not have to set a strict, life-altering goal on Jan. 1 for it to be valid.

Cal Sutton is a sophomore journalism major