5 Reasons Making A New Year's Resolution Is Absolutely Pointless
It’s almost that time of the year for the “New Year, New Me” statements.
Embrace yourself, and get ready to scroll down your Facebook feed on January 1 to read hundreds of resolutions while you will probably be thinking to yourself, “Where is all this motivation coming from?”
The truth is, all this motivation is coming from nowhere, which is exactly the reason why New Year's resolutions are absolutely pointless.
Every year on December 31, we like to make promises to ourselves to think we'll be able to adopt radical changes and get what we want from life, without having to pay a high price for it.
On New Year’s Eve, we think everything is achievable and we will succeed whatever our final goal is.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to be too cynical or pessimistic, nor do I want to turn your hopes down or make you believe changes are impossible.
Changes are possible, if you have the right motivation and the strength to make them happen. What is slightly less possible is that your mindset will change overnight.
Choosing a single day to start a major life change is indeed anything but logical.
Here are seven reasons why:
1. Should Vs. Want
When it comes to resolutions, we're usually thinking about what we should be doing rather than what we actually want to do.
For example, we think we should start a healthier life and we should be fitter.
The problem is, what if you don't really want to?
Also, we should always remember that when we want to change something in our lives, we have to be sure we are doing it for the right reasons.
If your main motivation behind your resolution is what other people will think of you, it's probably not going to work out for you.
Whatever we do and whatever decision we make, we must do it for ourselves, not to please someone else.
2. January 1 Is Not The Perfect Day
Actually, January 1 is probably the worst day out of 365 to pick up and start a resolution.
On the first day of the year, we usually wake up from a hangover or are tired from the night before.
All we want to do is sleep, eat and repeat.
Plus, if your resolution is about starting a diet, maybe you should try to forget about all the sweets and treats around the house, not to mention all the carb-heavy holiday leftovers.
3. Targets Are Too High
As I was saying before, most of the time on New Year's we feel invincible and decide to make some crazy resolutions, setting some really high targets.
For example, we decide we want to lose 10 pounds in one month or go to gym every day from January on.
If you manage to actually workout every day, then it's great for you, but don't be too hard on yourself or push yourself too much.
You don't need to lose 10 pounds in a month.
Maybe it would be better to start a healthy diet and lose weight step by step, rather than rushing to get a final result, which is either unhealthy or too hard to obtain.
4. Bad Timing
Picking a precise day to start changing your life is kind of like fooling yourself.
If you are really willing to change your life and are committed to do it, you don’t need to postpone it to January 1; pick any day out of the calendar.
If you are really motivated to achieve or change something, you start working on it immediately.
Otherwise, you are just making excuses and delaying it, which means your will is not that strong and maybe that resolution doesn’t mean that much to you after all.
5. Life Happens
Finally, New Year's resolutions are a complete waste of time because life happens.
It’s almost impossible to hold yourself to promises every year, to reinvent yourself or to even plan your life. Why? Because you don’t have control of everything, nor you can predict what will happen.
Life is short; if you are not happy with your life, you are the only one responsible for that.
But there is a good news: You can change it and make it better.
But trust me, you don’t need the January 1 to make your life a beautiful adventure.
You can start now, and thank me later.
