I said it. Having New Year’s resolutions is bullshit. Let me explain why. Nearly everyone I know wants to start the new year with fantastic goals of losing weight, getting a new job, finally running the marathon they’ve been talking about for 5 years. And in theory, it’s great to think of “new year, new me”, but honestly think to yourself, how many New Years resolutions have you actually kept throughout your life? For me, it’s 1.5.

In 2020 I vowed to run 500 miles for the year, and I did. Yay me! That year I also wanted to start living a more environmentally responsible. I planned to significantly reduce my paper waste, and stop using plastic products. I was well on my way to a good start, then the pandemic happened. I’ve been trying slowly trying to get back to this goal as it is important to me. I hope you don’t view me as a negative person, but I think you’ll agree with my logic by the end of this post.

Here are 5 of the most common New Year’s resolutions:

1. Eat healthier
2. Work out more
3. Drink less
4. Manage stress
5. Quit smoking/vaping

Have you ever thought about what creates the need to develop these types of resolutions? I’ll give you a hint. It’s the days between Thanksgiving and December 31st. We’re all trying to be the best, do the best, be there for everyone and everything. It’s not realistic!

1. Why are you eating poorly? Because as a society, we’ve deemed it ok to eat crap during the holidays simply because it’s the holidays.
2. Why don’t you work out as much as you’d like? Because we’re tired from working too hard at a job most of us hate to pay for materialistic things our families.
3. Why do you drink so much? Two things here- Americans have made it “normal” to go out and get trashed as a means of being entertained. Second, we’re stressed with all the extra activities the season brings. I’m not saying we should turn to alcohol because of stressful situations, but many people do.
4. Why are you unable to manage stress? Because we put so much pressure on ourselves to do too many things by ourselves. Basketball games, choir concerts, holiday parties, family get-togethers, etc. It’s too much!
5. Why can’t you stop smoking/vaping? I’ll give a little leverage with this one. I have never been a smoker, but have known enough to see how difficult it is to quit. All though- smokers, when do you find yourself smoking/vaping more than normal? Are you stressed out due to ever expanding responsibilities thrusted on you, perhaps?

You don’t need a new year, month, week, whatever to begin a goal. Heck, most people give up 3 months in to their new gym memberships¹. What we need is to realize that it’s ok to give up on keeping up with the Joneses. They’re not going anywhere anyway.