My Thoughts on New Year's resolutions

I think this is an important topic coming up right now.

Today is the last day of 2024. During this time, we will reflect on how the past year has went. The good, the bad, and everything in between. We will(hopefully) spend time with our family and friends trying to enjoy the last of the year before time moves on and a new year starts.

Tomorrow begins 2025. For better or for worse, it will start a new chapter for everyone in life. We will all have new goals, aspirations, and things that we want to work on over the coming year.

With these upcoming goals and aspirations, many people will decide to make New Year’s Resolutions a tradition as a way to hold up to their goals.

While I respect these intentions, I find New Year’s Resolutions to be rather short-sighted. I personally you can choose to change something at any day or any time in the year. I also think that there are things that you pick up that you didn’t expect throughout the year. For example, I didn’t think I had any interest in distance running until my best friend wanted to run a 5k.

It is also important to realize that some things that we work on are lifelong. Instead of thinking it as something that will change in a year, we should think of things that will need constant tinkering and improvement.

Yet another important thing to realize are how many people give up on their new years resolutions. Whether it’s lacking a solid plan or having life stuff going on, many new year’s resolutions don’t get resolved.

Finally, we must talk about self improvement culture. The world(and especially social media) demands us to keep improving all of the time. While I don’t think that people should do nothing, I think it’s important to find balance. Whether that’s doing relaxing hobbies, working less, or something else that is meaningful, it is important to take a step back and avoid getting too caught up in hustle culture.

Before I move on, I must realize that everyone’s brain works differently. Some people do well with New Years resolutions while others do not. Some people need more structure while others do not. I hope that everyone listens to their needs and does what is best for them to help their quality of life.

I know that 2024 has been a year of a lot of learning and change for me. It had a lot of high highs and low lows. It was a year where I put myself in many uncomfortable situations, for better or worse. It was a year where I had to work on realizing that being in a fight or flight stage everyday is not good and that it’s okay to not look at social media everyday. For better or worse, I am proud to have made it through.

I wish everyone a Happy New Year. I am hoping that you have a blessed year full of personal fulfillment and meaningful activities. Regardless of the ups and downs you face, I hope that you can get the support you need.