A week has gone by since 2019 slipped into 2020 marking the end of not only a year but also a decade and social media has been flooded with grand declarations from people about how it is suddenly the right time to focus on new goals. I did not make a public announcement about my resolutions for the new year and in truth, I did not even take part in the tradition of making resolutions for the new year. The whole ritual behind sitting down and making resolutions is one that I have chosen to ignore since I was in high school, and I do not miss that part of the New Year celebration. I find that most goals made for a new year tend to be impulsive and potentially harmful to one’s mental health when they are not complete in some arbitrary timeframe. Resolutions seem to be vague, which increases the chances of failure because without a specific thing to work towards that can mark a hurdle being overcome it is impossible to actually say a goal has been accomplished. Ambiguity is the enemy of growth and fosters frustration, and eventually, the abandonment of resolutions usually made with the best intentions. The importance that I’ve seen people put on these resolutions has driven people to tears when something prevents them from checking them off a list by the end of the year and unfortunately fosters feelings of self-loathing that can eventually turn into depression if left unchecked.
I try to avoid all of this mess by ignoring the festivity that marks the end of December and treating it like any other day. This is not to say that I look down on those who choose to celebrate the on New Year’s Eve, I just don’t really like to party so I stay home with my dogs and cozy blankets. What I really mean is that I don’t wait to make goals for myself for some big event like hanging a new calendar on my wall, I simply jot down what I want to do whenever it pops into my mind. I also try to set very specific goals that I can reasonably accomplish, even if they seem small to someone else. The important thing is to make steps towards bigger goals, and usually, that means breaking things down into little accomplishments that some people would not see as worth writing down. My tidbit of unsolicited advice, don’t let anyone else tell you that your goals are too small or unimportant if they mean something to you.
