At the beginning of every new year, the American population goes into a frenzy with new ideas and expectations. The New Year is seen as a time to make huge changes and implement plans of living out overdue dreams. As a result, a mass majority of us go on to make New Year’s resolutions. These are goals that we make at the beginning of the year that will improve our livelihood. They range from weight loss, to earning more money, to quitting smoking, or even to falling in love. These brand new goals give us a positive outlook on the New Year and the desire to make ourselves happy.
In reality, we do not always keep these resolutions. Basically, this comes down to the idea of things being easier said than done. For example, you can say at the beginning of the year “Hey, I’m going to lose twenty pounds!” then we research all of these diets and make up an extensive exercise plan with all intentions of coming out on top. Unfortunately, as the days pass the will power and eagerness of our resolution fades. We become consumed with other tasks and our resolution is left in the dark only to be picked up the following year. This vicious cycle repeats itself over and over and over again to the point where we question whether making New Year’s resolutions are even worth it.
According to Google trends, the United States has the largest number of people who make New Year’s resolutions. I believe it is because we are the nation of opportunity. We have been taught from the beginning that anything is possible. Making a New Year’s resolution would only make sense if you have this kind of mentality. After a few years of making the same resolution and not seeing it through, one can become quite frustrated. Some people may say this “What’s the point?” I, too, have thought the same thing. We may even stop making them. This is a bad move in my book.
Yes, the fact of life is that we don’t always follow through with what we say, but we shouldn’t stop making those goals. If we stop thinking about the future and let our pre-existing negative thoughts overshadow our minds, we will never get anywhere. At least we have the intention of living a better life if we keep making resolutions. Some people actually complete their resolutions. It’s just a matter of determination. If you stop making resolutions then you may never lose weight and then you may be obese. If you give up on kicking your smoking habit you may develop lung cancer. If you don’t try to open up emotionally, there is good chance you may not fall in love.
I believe that it would be easier to keep these resolutions if they started out small. If you want to lose weight, instead of creating this huge weight loss plan try to eat right one day at a time. If you eat right one day at a time then it will eventually become habitual. Also, instead of going to the gym everyday, try going three days a week. For the smokers of the world, it may a bit more difficult than the weight loss issue. It is known that cold turkey quitting only works for a hand full of people, so I would suggest obtaining some kind of professional help. You will know if you are serious or not, and when you are, you will get the proper help. New Year’s resolutions that deal with relationships, romantic relationships, are the most difficult to complete. There is a good chance that these are the ones that cause people to give up the most. This area of life is different for each individual and the way to fix this area of life is to be proactive about it. Don’t let one bump in the road completely stop your car.
These New Year’s resolutions just test how much you believe in yourself. There is a good chance that this year may be your year for a change.
