Why New Year Resolutions Don’t Work

Me and million others on the 1st of January 2022

Me three days later

Others a week later

A lot of us feel like this right now

or this

or this

I feel ya.

It’s okay if you made a resolution not to take soda in 2022 but you are on your fourth bottle of coke already. Or you decided to sign up at the gym, but you just postponed it to 2nd quarter in the year. Or you decided to cook more at home, but you just ordered something light from Yellow Plate. It’s fine. It’s not you, it’s them, them being Omicron in the air, not resting enough in 2021, or healthy fruit drinks having the audacity to run out.

If it’s any consolation, studies show that 4 out of 5 people will eventually break their resolutions and approximately a third of resolutions don’t make it past the first month. See, it’s not you, it’s them.

I know there’s a lot of motivational speeches flying about the New year right now but it’s okay if all you’ve done so far this year is Netflix and Chill.

But errrrm,

We can’t keep chilling and sleeping on our goals for the rest of the year. It’s not enough to simply say what you want and give up at the first ounce of stress. You must create a roadmap that details how you will get there and stick to the plan. Perhaps the reason why your resolutions don’t work is that you are too focused on the result rather than the journey. My resolutions don’t work because I am simply lazy (that’s why this piece is coming three days late…sowie) and I am concerned on hitting the goal.

So rather than getting overwhelmed by your failure to keep to your resolutions, how about you stop worrying about time running fast or judging yourself for defaulting. 2022 is a journey that requires processes that cannot be skipped. Today, decide to just “drink water” rather than focus on all the future sodas you must avoid.

My point, focus on today. Because that’s all you have for now.

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