January 1 has already come and gone. You probably had a bunch of New Year's resolutions that you wanted to achieve in 2017, and you've likely already broken half of them. You probably feel pretty guilty for already breaking them. I'm telling you right now: stop feeling guilty for failing.
Let me let you in on a little secret: New Year's resolutions do not work. They have never worked. EVER.
The biggest and most recognizable example is having a New Year's resolution to lose weight.
Having weight loss as a New Year's resolution sucks, because the weight loss industry hinges on you failing and hinges on the guilt you will feel afterward. There is no wiggle room for failure. It is either you achieved your resolution, or you failed it, scrapped it, and just forgot about the entire thing. At the end of the day, you get the short end of the stick. You feel crappy about your outer image. You feel like you let a lot of people down. At the end of the day, the weight loss industry gets a big paycheck and you feel like utter crap.
The problem with New Year's resolutions is that many times they aren't SMART -- Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Having a resolution to "lose weight" is not a SMART goal -- it's hardly a goal at all. "Eat better" and "drink more water" are vague ideas that will end up making you feel like you failed because dang it, soda is just too delicious, especially Dr. Pepper.
Again, I say: New Year's resolutions do not work. Not by themselves. They suck on their own. If you base your entire new year, your "new year, new me" mantra on the vague idea of losing weight or drinking more water or even making new friends, you're going to fail. You are going to have a pretty bad time.
Here's what I say to you: if you want to lose weight, GO FOR IT. If you want to make friends, GO FOR IT. Just turn your resolutions into goals and make them achievable. Make them as specific as you can get them. Make them measurable. Make them as attainable as you can make them. Make them relevant and not something that you wish for in passing. And make them have a time limit. Lastly, allow for wiggle room in your goals. Always reevaluate your goal and your plan for achieving that goal. If your plan failed, regroup, refocus, and redraft a new plan of action.
New Year's resolutions suck and do not work. However, if you stick with it and keep track of it, goals will work. SMART goals will work. Make your goals for this year smart, and you're not likely to fail. Just don't get into the resolution mentality.
