Why New Year's Resolutions Never Work
As we head into the month of February, I’m assuming most of you haven't thought about that New Year’s resolution of yours until you read the title of this article. Well, I’m sorry. Now you’re probably stressed out. But we’re here to explain why you’re not the only one whose New Year's resolutions haven’t stuck.
People put so much pressure on themselves to change drastically in such a short period of time. As we headed into 2020, there was a tremendous amount of pressure surrounding not just a new year resolution but a new decade resolution. Instead of setting long term goals, we feel societal pressure to change our grades from C’s to A’s or lose 20 pounds all in the span of a week instead of a few months.
YouGov sent out a survey asking adults what their New Year's resolutions were as they headed into 2020.
*People could check as many ones as applied to them and their goals
Although getting more sleep, exercising, saving money, learning a new skill, etc. are all admirable, we were curious to see how many of those people stuck to their goal and for how long.
Over the New Year, I went back home to Nashville and decided to go out downtown for Keith Urban’s free annual NYE concert. Once the clock hit midnight, I tried to sneak my way closer to the stage to get a better view, when a woman, clearly outraged, turned to me with a few choice words… not even fifteen minutes into the new decade!
Her resolution definitely wasn’t to be nicer, but I admire her for not choosing a resolution she knew she couldn’t keep. Maybe she was having a terrible night or something had just happened minutes before. It's entirely okay to slip up, as long as you continue to reach that end goal.
What’s important to remember when trying to follow through with any goal is that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Chances are you aren’t going to get your grade from a C to an A in a week or all of a sudden have thousands of more dollars in your bank account. But if you really stick with something, it will eventually happen.