Embracing the Cultural Phenomenon of New Year’s Resolutions
I love the New Year. I think one of the best memes to come about over the last decade is the idea of “New Year New You.” While I know there are many people who love to hate this idea, I prefer to ignore these pessimist. Those who think New Year’s resolutions are a waste of time are missing the point.
Of course you can set goals any day and at any time of the year. Yes, technically January 1st is just another day and nothing magical happens when the clock strikes midnight. Certainly it’s true that most people don’t keep their New Year’s resolutions for more than a few weeks at best.
In spite of all this, I prefer to embrace the cultural phenomenon of New Year’s resolutions. It feels good to be optimistic. Furthermore, it feels even better when everyone else is optimistic as well. Why not use this energy as fuel?
Starting on December 31st, we all get at least a week where nearly everyone in our society agrees we all get a new beginning, a fresh start, and a chance to go after our dreams. This is the only time of the year where there is a consensus among the masses that optimism rules.
This consensus on optimism is nothing short of amazing. It creates so much momentum for everyone who buys into this cultural phenomenon. When hundreds of millions of people agree that the time is now for self-improvement, you’d be a fool not to get on the bandwagon.
Sure you may start exercising, lose a few pounds and then gain it all back by this time next year. So what.
It’s possible you may spend the month of January getting organized and by June have the same messy office. Who cares.
What matters is that it feels good for a few weeks to get caught up in the optimistic wave that kicks off the year on January 1st. All you can do is your best to stick with your plan to make this year better than last.
Unquestionably, there are some new ideas you can incorporate into your plan to make success more likely than not. I’m definitely going to try some new things this year.
As each year goes by, I say choose to get wiser about the New Year instead of pessimistic about it. Choose to do better instead of choosing to do nothing, and choose to make the coming year just a little better than last if that’s all you can do. It’s not always about how much you can do, sometimes it’s just about doing something.
My advice is to use the momentum of the New Year instead of fighting it. It’s actually not so bad if you have to try again and again every 365 days. That’s a lot better than the alternative when you really think about it. Happy New Year!