Unpacking the New Year Resolution Taboo: A Journey Through Mindset

It was one of these weekends that you have fewer activities at home. Planning to use that to tidy up your bookshelf. I came across this in my very overpriced and executive journal. I bought it with the ambition of penning down all my 2024 resolutions. Flipping through the pages of the journal. I noticed most of the pages are blank except for January and February. My January pages are filled with resolutions. Examples are - gym registration, taking courses, learning French, waking up at 5 am every morning, starting a side hustle, and spending more time with family. Fast forward to the date; it seems I’m a failure. While the truth of the matter “Do I need this to justify my progress? The truth is that I feel guilty for not achieving what had listed in my overprice Journal.

The last line spirals into deep thinking why do I need a New Year's Resolution

Do You Need Really a New Year’s Resolution or Just Recycle the Old Ones?

Why Do We Hate Carrying Over Old Goals

One of the bitter truths people don’t like to hear. Re-writing your unaccomplished previous year's goals. It feels like you admit defeat for that year. For Example- One of your 2024 resolutions is to “lose 30 pounds”. But the opposite is the case (Please don’t take offense to this because are in the same shoes). While you look disappointed for not achieving that goal. You’re not the only one in this don’t feel down. This is one of the major reasons people start on a fresh slate for their New Year resolutions. This seems an escaping root pretending last year's resolution failures didn’t happen.

But starting over doesn’t erase your failure of not showing up at the gym you registered for in January 2024. Instead of writing another exercise resolution for the new year. While running away from the previous one. Maybe it’s time to discipline yourself and subscribe to those simple online/app exercises. But If you have a treadmill covered somewhere at the corner of your apartment. It’s high time you dust it off for use. While you think rewriting your previous goal is a shame or a sign of defeat I would like to tell you it’s called a Strategic. We all know that achieving goals takes time it spills over into the next year.

Does It Even Make Sense to Start Afresh?

I’m trying to be curious here; If large numbers of people are unable to close out their New Year resolutions in a year. What makes them think it will be possible for them to close the new ones in the next 365 days? It seems to start over every January like an efficient hamster wheel. It’s like you are trying to work hard, the question is are you progressing?

Something is thrilling about humans starting afresh with a new goal. It feels like there is progress in that person’s journey, while If it isn’t. Here is an irony of life; progress does come from consistency, discipline, and not novelty. The fact that resolutions don’t have anything to do with expiration dates. Why do we have to abandon unaccomplished goals for the previous year? Don’t get carried away with the calendar flipping.

How Long Do New Year’s Resolutions Last?

A friend once said “New Year's resolutions don’t always last much longer than the champagne bubbles at midnight. Statistics have shown that at large 80% of every New Year's resolution fails in February. But the question should be: Why can’t they achieve their resolution in 365 days?

Instead, why can’t they recycle the old goals? Because it will have been digested more than the fresh one. If new resolutions often don’t last, why not focus on the unaccomplished ones?

The Myth of the ‘Perfect Year’

Let's debunk the idea of a perfect Year; It is normal to look at January 1st. We are starting afresh as our tradition fills with fresh energy. But we all know that life doesn’t go as planned sometimes.

How many people around you have you met or seen? Who has accomplished all their yearly resolutions that were set on January 1st? I don’t say there are none but a few because life is full of muddles. Things happen such as the economy, government policy, changing jobs, careers, or priorities.

The Real Question: How Do We Measure Success?

I hope you won't feel offended; Why do you have to measure your yearly success by calendar? Because success is not about ticking your checklist by December 31st.

Why do we have to measure success by a calendar year? Another question is, can you achieve your yearly goal in a month, quarter, half a year, or 365 days? Even If you start late in a year can you still make it? Let's get it clear our success is not tied to a year, but to continuous perseverance.

Whether you prefer to start on a fresh plate or want to recycle the old goal. I would say don’t forget to appreciate yourself, laugh, and don’t skip patting yourself on your back for trying. Always appreciate your progress no matter how slow the progress is.