The Phenomenon of New Year’s Resolutions

It seems so arbitrary to pen up new behaviorial commandments—typically dietary—in relation to a new calendar year. Trust: I’ve tried for years, starting new journals with the chutzpah of a kid on Christmas day and a page full of things to change. What began as mandatory grade school assignments became convention, but I just don’t get it. The majority of us aren’t accountants or (pesky) tax people, dammit! I have enough bad memories associated with fiscal policies and credit/debit ledgers to last me a lifetime. Don’t ask me to coordinate myself with a fiscal new year, it’s tacky (and insensitive). Kind of like couples matching (unless it’s prom or a wedding). If anything, it makes more sense to align ourselves with the changing of seasons between winter and spring. Goodbye nesting, hellooo twitterpation! Last time I checked, springtime was rebirth, renaissance, fresh starts, pretty flowers, and all that jazz.

But I digress.

What are New Year’s resolutions but an act of procrastination? We put off the things we want to accomplish—dietary or not—because we tell ourselves we can just start anew on January 1 with the rest of the world. And then once we’ve dusted off the champagne and packed away the sequin dresses, we tell ourselves that it’s okay, we tried, we did it for a week, and no one follows resolutions anyway. Then 365 days come and go before we repeat the cycle. Again. 

Just do it. Now. Don’t wait. There’s good thought in the idea, but ideas are only ideas until they’re acted upon. New Year’s resolutions are but excuses of general laziness or fear that let bad habits imprint themselves. If there is something in your life that needs changing, why the wait? You want to be a published journalist, great. Draft up pitches and submit them tomorrow. Push it ’til the ball drops so you can start 2013 as the new-and-improved Carrie Bradshaw, and opportunities have been lost to others more driven than you. You want to lose weight? Get on the treadmill tonight.

Changing outlooks and behaviors require thorough reevaluation of your current habits. True, writing solidifies whatyou want, but a checklist of resolutions don’t tell you why you want that or how to get there.

Come into the New Year with an I’m-allowed-to-binge/bitch/buy/etc.-as-much-as-I-want-until-the-1st (take a look at your Facebook newsfeed and tell me those aren’t the statuses you see) attitude is only setting yourself up for failure. No excuses, no putting off. I love the idea of a clean slate as much as the next, but any change starts with a positive, proactive steps. There’s no such thing as getting it all out of your system before you align yourself with the planet’s rotational behavior.

Remember: it only takes 21 (give or take) days to establish a new habit, and it’s all about hyper-awareness and attitude.

“The Universe is not punishing you or blessing you. The Universe is responding to the vibrational attitude that you are emitting.”

—Abraham Hicks

Instead, think of New Year’s resolutions as long-term goals, and keep the nitty-gritty stuff out that 2013 checklist. I’m positive that this is the key to happiness that guides and pushes your to improve year after year. Resolutions by nature are awe-inspiring at the surface but become intimidating once you’ve chipped the surface. Therefore, be realistic with what you want to achieve. Say you want to lose weight. Why do you? Why the negative connotation? What are you going to do after you reach that target weight? I think part of the reason why most resolutions lead to frustration, and ultimately failure, is because there’s no afterthought.

A healthy lifestyle is a lifetime commitment, not a fling-of-the-year: fitness and diet is a daily pledge. Take it one day at a time instead of stressing yourself over the overwhelm that comes with broader goals. Start by re-wording what you want and immediately it’ll spark a light within. Perhaps a 4.0 academic school year was your resolution; the same applies in any case. Break it down to smaller, manageable pieces and tackle it by the day until it becomes second nature.

Keep it simple, keep it real. I want to be genuine always, and remember to be impeccable with my word no matter what. I want to happy; I want to treat myself better, to be good to myself. I need to learn to relax—to breathe—and allow for hiccups that might come along my well-planned to-do lists.

Here’s to everything amazing, inspiring, delicious and seductive in 2013—Happy New Year’s, mes amis!

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