An Important Note About New Year’s Resolutions

30/12/2015
Cai Burton

Cai is always left feeling deflated after he breaks his New Year’s resolution after a few weeks, so this year he’s trying with a different mindset.

Around this time of year you’re bombarded with the ‘So what are your New Year’s resolutions??’ question.

Every year in the early hours of 1st January, we all make these promises that the next year will be better. These are called ‘New Year’s resolutions’ and they can be super tricky. When did we decide that we would try and improve ourselves during the coldest, wettest and darkest time of year? If it were up to me, January would follow the pattern that December sets of eating, drinking and sleeping as much as you want.

Unfortunately, I’m not in charge of arranging the national holidays and it’s around this time of year that you find yourself bombarded with the ‘So what are your New Year’s resolutions??’ question. It’s not something that you can avoid. Which means that despite the longing for my duvet and chocolate, we usually make New Year’s resolutions.

I am, however, notoriously bad at keeping New Year’s resolutions. I did the whole ‘getting up earlier’ thing one year. I was hoping that it would encourage me to be more productive on the weekends if I wasn’t getting up at midday. All that ended up happening was when my alarm went off half an hour earlier, I’d just hit snooze for another half an hour and then feel more tired anyway.

I am, however, notoriously bad at keeping new years resolutions.

I also attempted to practice the saxophone more one year. To be fair, this one was probably my most successful New Year’s resolution. Although that may have been because I had a music teacher on my back and an exam looming – so I probably should have been practicing more anyway.

Another year I tried to get fitter and the less said about that the better.

Okay, okay, so I know I’m bad at resolutions. But I mean – who isn’t? There are always a few people that actually keep their New Year’s resolutions and I have nothing but respect for those people. However I think that a lot of us resign ourselves to more of a ‘new month resolution’. Perhaps the whole thing is set up to encourage people to buy workout CDs and Nutribullets? When we’re almost doomed to fail, why bother even coming up with New Year’s resolutions? What’s the point? It can be tricky to find the motivation to come up with resolutions when you know it’s probably going to be forgotten about after a few weeks.

This year though – as December transitions into January and 2015 into 2016 – I’ve been thinking about why we actually make New Year’s resolutions. It’s a tradition that was around 4,000 years ago during the Babylonian and Egyptian Empire. Sure, times have changed and there’s less of that ‘appeasing gods’ malarkey, but what hasn’t changed is the desire for the New Year to be better than the last.

What hasn’t changed is the desire for the New Year to be better than the last.

We make New Year’s resolutions to improve ourselves – to become better people. It doesn’t matter whether you keep your New Year’s resolution for a whole year or give up after a day, what’s important is that you’re making it. Making a New Year’s resolution means that you’re trying to make a change. It doesn’t matter what change you’re trying to make, what matters is that you’re trying.

This year, I’m making a New Year’s resolution to try and keep my room tidier – because it can get really messy. In a few weeks it might look a mess again, but I think that it’s important that I at least try to make that change. The first step towards making any change is starting it, so even if you don’t stick to your New Year’s resolutions, at least you’re trying to make that change.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Are you making any? You’re more likely to keep them if you tell somebody so tell us on Facebook or Twitter

Find out what’s on in January by using the Rife Guide

Have a happy new year.