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Go to the gym. Read more. Save money. New Year’s resolutions have been around forever, and they mostly revolve around a central theme: self-improvement.
People enjoy the idea of having a fresh start — a clean slate where past mistakes can be left behind and progress feels possible again. However, the problem many find with making New Year’s resolutions isn’t just making them, but having the ability to keep them.
Some start off strong, full of strength and determination, believing that this year is finally their year. However, as the cold, gray days of January slowly walk on and hope dies down, saying “I’ll try again tomorrow” becomes a permanent mindset.
Somewhere along the way, failure becomes something to be ashamed of. Missing one day at the gym feels like you completely ruined “the plan.” Sometimes, not meeting your goals feels like you will never get better.
Maybe we’re making the idea of failing and having to start over a little too negative. Maybe failing and starting over is just the simple fact of life.
Life doesn’t move in one straight upward line. It also doesn’t move in one straight downward line. It’s full of setbacks, pauses and restarts. People fear the idea of getting knocked down so much that they miss the important part: getting back up. That process builds resilience, but you can’t get back up until you’ve been knocked down a bit.
Some treat New Year’s Eve as a celebration, but most see it as a deadline, a time when they are forced to confront the things they didn’t achieve instead of focusing on what they did. Even the smallest of wins are still wins.
Here’s something I try to remember: you can start over any day you want to. It doesn’t have to be on a specific night. Change is always happening, so why do we feel like it can only really happen in one of the 365 nights? Change doesn’t happen overnight anyway.
My resolution for the New Year is to give myself more grace and drink a little more water. I could definitely use both, and if I were to have a resolution for whoever is reading this article, it’s to give yourself a little more grace, too. Believe in yourself a little bit more, and don’t forget to drink more water.
So don’t feel like you have to become a brand new person this year. Don’t feel like you have to change everything about yourself, and especially don’t feel that you can’t restart any day you want to.
We are humans. We will make mistakes. We will learn. Happy New Year.