I'm sure you've all seen your news feeds clogged with painstakingly edited and filtered photos all claiming the same four glittering words, "New year, New me!". But what does that even really mean? That as the clock switches over at midnight...you'll become someone else? Because let's be honest, that's not happening.
As humans I think it's safe to say that we are all open to the idea of a clean slate, the New Years holiday is a great opportunity to kick start some new goals and commit to change. Unfortunately, many people get caught up in thinking that just because the date has changed their life is just going to be suddenly better. As much as I wish it worked that way- it doesn't. If you really want something to change, you'll change it. I know it's not easy, believe me. There have been many resolutions and goals that I have set for myself that weren't met or not even close to being met, and it's because I didn't have a real drive to meet them. At the end of the day the only person I'm hurting is myself, and who wants to actively do that to themselves?
We start our year off so strong. We spend those first few weeks in January sweating our butts off in the gym, putting money into our savings accounts, drinking less, etc. But by mid February you'll be knee deep in a bottle of wine, surrounded by empty pizza boxes and an empty piggy bank (The wine and pizza had to be paid for somehow) and you'll wonder where the time went, and promise yourself you'll do better next year.
An easy way to commit to a change is to set realistic goals. To me, it's easier to set a series of short goals then two or three long ones. If your resolution is to lose weight, set yourself a series of check points through out the year and meet those. If you're wanting to stop spending money, start putting a dollar or two into a jar a week. It all adds up. You won't get immediate gratifitcation, but you will find that you met your goals.
Don't go into this year as a new person, you'll just be making the same mistakes. Go into this year as a wiser you, someone who remembers how hard it was to just quit Coke Zero cold turkey, and slowly weans themselves off. Be the person this year that remembers how much it sucked to look in the mirror and not like what they saw. Starting this year as a "new you" is almost an insult to the you that you were a year ago. Don't belittle your past struggles and accomplishments, wear them like medals on your chest and sleeves. You earned your stripes, don't let the start of a new year take that way from you.
