Add one more resolution to your New Year’s list

Time for Tea by Celia Klassen
We are always making resolutions; “I’m going to diet starting next week”, “I’m going to save money”, “I’m going to do better at XYZ”, “I’m going to get better grades”. We say these things throughout the year, sometimes on a daily basis!
New year’s day doesn’t seem like a good day, personally, to begin working out. You’re tired from all the festivities and staying up late to ring in the new year! And thus that particular resolution gets put off before it’s even begun. But the new year seems a particularly popular time to make resolutions.
Technically, new year’s day isn’t any different from any other day, except that a fresh start seems to float on the air with the new date.
The top 10 most common resolutions are: exercise more, lose weight, get organized, learn new skill or hobby, live life to the fullest, save more/spend less, quit smoking, spend more time with family and friends, travel more and read more. Most resolutions fit into those 10 categories.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 46 percent of people who made new year’s resolutions were successful. Even with the best of intentions, life gets busy and the glow of the fresh new year wears off.
In 2014 35 percent of participants in a study who failed their new year’s resolutions admitted they had unrealistic goals. Thirty percent didn’t keep track of progress and 23 percent forgot about them.
We know how many years we’ve made the same promises to ourselves, only to break them, so why do we still do it? Firstly it’s almost a rite of passage into the new year – these resolutions, even if not uttered aloud, spur us into the new year with hope and determination. Our inherent desire to do better, to be better, is satisfied for a few weeks at least.
The lockdowns of 2020 and the uncertainty that followed has caused a global desire to “get back to normal”, whatever that is. Resolutions are a good way to help that.
This writer has even written down a few of her own. It is a good idea to make some, even if you don’t keep them.
Acknowledgement of where you are now and where you’d like to be is important for personal growth. The hope and optimism that come from setting goals have a positive effect on, not only your own mental health, but a positive effect on those around you. Sharing your resolutions and attempts to keep them also inspires others.
So go ahead and make your resolutions and strive to keep them. Even doing better for a week is better than not doing better at all. Smoking less is better even if you don’t quit completely. Eating healthier is better, even if you still have the occasional fried beige carb.
What’s the longest you’ve kept a resolution? Add “send more stories/information/photos to the Press/Times” to your list – that one is sure to positively affect those in your small town!