The Sad Reality of New Years’ Resolutions

By: Grace Pereira 

The new year does not only signify a new number. As we count down to the first second of January 1st, we breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through the last 365 days, and wish for this one to be better than the last. With the incoming new year comes a new slate, and for many of us, we celebrate this fresh start with a list of changes, a list of resolutions. These are intended to better ourselves, but some New Years’ resolutions may be more harmful than helpful.

Unrealistic Goals

Creating a list of resolutions is marketed to help us, but some can become more detrimental to ourselves. By setting unrealistic goals when you may not be capable of achieving them, you may feel even worse than last year. In addition, when you do not achieve these goals, it can take a toll on your mental health. You may not see immediate change, and all of the hype of the new year ignores the fact that self improvement is a gradual process.

Some of these unrealistic goals may damage your self image and affect your physical health as well. These include losing a set amount of weight, crazy diets, overly intense workouts, and other extreme body changes. Fitness and wanting to work on your body is great, but telling yourself from the start you are definitely going to lose a large amount of weight in a short amount of time, or trying many random diets can be harmful. It is okay to not see progress right away. You should not feel guilt, anger, or sadness that you may fail, as we often set the highest expectations for ourselves.

“New Year, New Me”

The problem with this slogan is that we are the same exact people as we were last year, although that may be disappointing to think about. Yes, we can look for some change in our lives, but we cannot expect to wake up January 1st and look the way society says is perfect, or have all of our negative emotions suddenly flee from our minds. As long as you are doing the best you can, that is all that matters. 

The new year should not be all about changing every single “bad” thing you did during the previous year. Look for the little things to be proud of. Set one goal a day that you know you can easily achieve, whether it’s getting an assignment done early, reaching out to loved ones more, or writing down a few positive affirmations, and then grow from there. Above anything else, I hope that 2021 brings you lots of happiness and love! Do not let unrealistic expectations bring you down.