After three years of extreme uncertainty, let’s toss the new year’s resolution trend for 2022.
We are burnt out, confused, conflicted, and at this point many of us are just in survival mode. This year, I am not making a resolution — whatever happens, happens. I have some lifestyle modifications I want to make, but I am not falling into the trap this year. My resolution last year was to read 12 books. That sounds pretty simple — just one book a month. What I didn’t consider was an extremely grueling school semester that would take five months of me working before and after school to stay caught up. I also didn’t consider a toddler who no longer let me sit by the pool and read. The whole month of December I kept beating myself up about not accomplishing my goal of reading 12 books. Let’s be honest: 12 books is pretty underwhelming and a low expectation, but I couldn’t even do that. With some self-reflection, I realized that one’s resolution shouldn’t cause anxiety and self-hatred. That’s why this year I am not setting any. Am I going to try to read more? Absolutely, but I am not putting a number on it.
We hype up new year’s resolutions so much, but really you can make a change any time.
If you’re unhappy with your diet don’t wait until January 1. Start now. You also set yourself up for failure to eat healthfully during certain life seasons. I remember as a child having softball Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and church on Wednesdays and Sundays. My sister also played softball and many nights she played hours before my games. In that season of life, we ate a lot of McDonald’s, ballpark food, and Easy Mac. In that season of life my mom did what she could. She worked a full-time job, picked us up at daycare, we changed quickly and wouldn’t be home until 9-10pm many nights. There was no realistic time to prepare a healthy meal. That was the season of life we were in.
If you want to set a resolution, I encourage you to look at the season you’re in and adjust things that can be changed and work towards that goal, instead of setting unrealistic goals for your life. If you always fall off the wagon by the end of January, here’s a little lesson I teach my high school freshman for their goals: I encourage you to make your goals SMART, which means they are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and with a Time Frame.
