Aislin Freedman, Senior
With the new year starting, many people encounter the question of a new year’s resolution. It is a popular tradition to, at the start of a new year, set a goal for yourself. The goal of this is often to motivate yourself to accomplish something that you have wanted to accomplish for a while, putting past failures out of mind. The idea behind it is often articulated as such: “new year, new me,” a sentiment echoed across cultures. The idea that we can put our past behind us and start again is an appealing concept, though the reason many people reject new year’s resolutions is because of the disappointment they bring at the end of a year, when they ultimately haven’t been completely satisfied. Of course, some people follow through on their resolutions, but it can be hard to remember to constantly live by them as a goal for the entire year. This is why I have a personal tradition, in which I tell myself I will read one book. Last year I completed my new year’s resolution 20 times.
I think that people put a lot of pressure on themselves to complete something big. I could have told myself that my resolution was to read 20 books. People tell themselves to eat better, to lose massive amounts of weight, to go to the gym every day, to achieve perfect grades, and many, many more goals with arbitrary finish lines, or goals that are much too hard to consistently follow through on. I find that when a goal is split up into smaller, easier reached finish lines, the goal is achieved easier and with more consistency.
I have heard people say not to set a new year’s goal because, more likely than not, it only leads to disappointment and disappointment when the year is up. This is another reason I split up my goal, so that if I don’t accomplish everything I would have liked, I can still appreciate that I accomplished something no matter the size. I wish that I read 30 books last year, but at the end of the year I can still be happy that I read even one, and that reminds me to be grateful that I love reading so much, and that I can receive so much joy from patterns of ink, printed on paper.
So in this new year, instead of forcing yourself into a new year’s resolution you know you won’t accomplish, make your goal something that you know you will do, something that you know you will love doing. Make the new year about more than what you wish you were but aren’t yet, but also about celebrating who you already are, and improving yourself through something that you already love, accentuating who you are, instead of trying to become someone you are not.