Why I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions

Every year when it gets close to January you try to set up a list of things you’ll do to make this year different. Let’s call them “New Year’s Resolutions.” You plan to stop eating sugar, start working out 4 times a week, drink more water, become more productive, finish a project, etc. In short you believe that the start of the new year is the cure to change your current habits. 

Well I really hate to break it to you but you’re wrong. I know this from personal experience. It might be a new year but it’s still the same you. You are an accumulation of your habits. The person you will be or not be is dependent on what habits you stick to. 

That being said you don’t need the start of a new year to change the things you wish were different about yourself. That’s why I think New Year’s Resolutions are crap. They give you the self-limiting idea that you need to wait until a certain time of the year to work on changing yourself.

When you inevitably give up on your resolutions the second or third week of the year, you feel like a failure and now have permission to go back to being your old self. 

So you’ll do it tomorrow.

Or maybe the start of the week, you’ll do it on Monday.

But not this Monday because you had a rough day at work. 

So now it’s Tuesday morning, but it’s early and you’re tired plus it’s too cold outside. 

You can just do it the first of next month.

Or you can wait until next year. 

You get my point? Your mind will give you a million excuses as to why you can’t do the things you tell yourself you want to do.

 So there’s no need to wait until Monday or tomorrow. And definitely no need to wait until next year. You can start changing your habits and adding in new things to your routine every. single. day. It’s a practice filled with a lot of failure, but that’s okay something tells me you’re up for the challenge. 

You can pick any day and time to do the things you want to do. But the thing is you need to make time and DO IT. 

So get out there and try something new! You never know how different you could be by next year if you started the thing right now. 

When will I feel ready?

We all go through it. When we feel unsure or don’t think that we can. We think we can’t possibly be ready to tackle the next big thing in our lives. Anything outside of our comfort zone is something we should be preparing for. That gives us another excuse to not move forward and stay right where we are. 

Here’s something to think about...have you ever actually been ready for anything you’ve done? 

I am sure that when you took your drivers test that you didn’t feel ready to be a licensed driver. When you graduated you didn’t feel ready to have a degree and go out in the real world. Maybe you started a new job you didn’t feel qualified for because you weren’t really sure what you were doing yet.

The fact is we never feel ready. We don’t feel ready to start something new. We don’t feel ready to leave our comfort zone. Or put ourselves out there. We can’t wait to feel ready or we’ll never do it. 

What would it look like if you dove right in to the things you aren’t ready for? How would your life change? Better yet, how would other people's lives change? 

Someone once told me that doing something outside of our comfort zone is like getting into a swimming pool. When you dip your toes in or try and ease your way in the pool is cold and you have a lot of resistance. But when you jump right in the pool is no longer cold it feels just fine. Easing into the pool takes much more time and is less enjoyable. Jumping in is fun and always ends up feeling better in the end. It’s best to get it over with and jump right in!

So what are you waiting for? You are ready right now just as you are. Jump in & do that thing you’ve been putting off!