The Resolution Illusion
"New Year, New Me" is the phrase people always say, as if the turning of the clock from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on New Year'e Eve will miraculously change who they are. To believe this is to set ourselves up for disappointment. For three or four weeks into the new year, people become disappointed that their diets aren't helping them lose weight faster or they meant to spend an hour a day reading, but missed a couple days. Now they wonder if their efforts will really pay off.
The problem is that we get impatient. We've all been conditioned to believe that everything should come to us quickly (advertisements promising faster service, faster results) and we lose our ability to be patient. After the ball drops at midnight and everyone has their last "hurrah!" of the year, we go about posting our resolutions on our social media pages and wait for feedback. The next couple of weeks roll by and we work on our resolutions with eagerness and anticipation, but soon become discouraged. We're not getting the results we expected.
We sometimes expect too much too quickly.
But this is natural though, right? We can't honestly expect to become the person we want to be in the brief and fleeting time span of one year. Take it from me, folks, one year is not a long time to significantly change ourselves (for the better or for worse, I won't judge). Yet we get so caught up in our own ambitions that we end up setting ourselves up for failure before we've even begun. Realistically, we can only hope to make small changes at a time.
I don't make resolutions, I make adjustments.
Humans are creatures of habit. It can take us a long time to break our habits or create new ones. Sure, we can make "resolutions" to get rid of stuff we don't need or paint the walls in our house or finish any number of projects, but those are simple things, compared to changing our behaviors or routines.
Don't get discouraged if the changes you anticipate don't manifest themselves in ways you would like them to.
For myself, I set goals for each year and I do my best to follow up on those goals. Knowing that change comes gradually, I don't frustrate myself with making the changes happen as quickly as possible.
I'll admit, I've made "resolutions" before. I've done my best to follow through with them, but I'm not making "resolutions" this year. I have goals, obviously. Some of my goals for the new year are similar to past goals.
I'm going to continue my transition into minimalism, but as I've stated before, things take time. I'm going to work to be more on top of things this spring semester. This year, I'm going to dig in my heels and clench my teeth. 2017 may potentially have a lot to throw at me, but I won't go down without a fight. I'm tired of letting my life control me. 2017 will be the year that I take control of my life to the best of my ability.
While 2016 was a hard year (seriously, what the heck, 2016??), there were some good things that happened:
-I began my senior year of high school and my second (as well as last) year at the community college
-I finally got a car! (2002 white VW Beetle)
-A good trip to the Outer Banks with family the week of Christmas
-Got my first art commissions
-Got into more music, as always
-Finally bought my electric guitar (proof that I can be diligent when it comes to saving money)
-Decided to be an art major
-Wrote over a third of the manuscript for my novel
-Developed my art abilities
Of course, there were other things that I can't think of at the moment. I've had some great times with my friends and family. I've learned from mistakes and I've learned how to let some things go. I've grown as a person and now I feel more prepared to take charge of the adult life that's ahead of me and begin really working towards my career.
I plan to keep up this blog better than I have been in the past few months, so I won't have to write such long posts as this one.
This has been a general recap of the past year and a little update of the past few months, as well as my general thoughts on New Year's resolutions. I look forward to the new year with quiet reservation (as Sherlock Holmes once said, "This is a time for observation, not for talk."). I'm excited to see what the new year has in store, but I also know that there will be challenges that I'll have to face.
Either way, the future is inevitable.
So until next time, my friends, be bold and have a happy New Year.
The problem is that we get impatient. We've all been conditioned to believe that everything should come to us quickly (advertisements promising faster service, faster results) and we lose our ability to be patient. After the ball drops at midnight and everyone has their last "hurrah!" of the year, we go about posting our resolutions on our social media pages and wait for feedback. The next couple of weeks roll by and we work on our resolutions with eagerness and anticipation, but soon become discouraged. We're not getting the results we expected.
We sometimes expect too much too quickly.
But this is natural though, right? We can't honestly expect to become the person we want to be in the brief and fleeting time span of one year. Take it from me, folks, one year is not a long time to significantly change ourselves (for the better or for worse, I won't judge). Yet we get so caught up in our own ambitions that we end up setting ourselves up for failure before we've even begun. Realistically, we can only hope to make small changes at a time.
I don't make resolutions, I make adjustments.
Humans are creatures of habit. It can take us a long time to break our habits or create new ones. Sure, we can make "resolutions" to get rid of stuff we don't need or paint the walls in our house or finish any number of projects, but those are simple things, compared to changing our behaviors or routines.
Don't get discouraged if the changes you anticipate don't manifest themselves in ways you would like them to.
For myself, I set goals for each year and I do my best to follow up on those goals. Knowing that change comes gradually, I don't frustrate myself with making the changes happen as quickly as possible.
I'll admit, I've made "resolutions" before. I've done my best to follow through with them, but I'm not making "resolutions" this year. I have goals, obviously. Some of my goals for the new year are similar to past goals.
I'm going to continue my transition into minimalism, but as I've stated before, things take time. I'm going to work to be more on top of things this spring semester. This year, I'm going to dig in my heels and clench my teeth. 2017 may potentially have a lot to throw at me, but I won't go down without a fight. I'm tired of letting my life control me. 2017 will be the year that I take control of my life to the best of my ability.
While 2016 was a hard year (seriously, what the heck, 2016??), there were some good things that happened:
-I began my senior year of high school and my second (as well as last) year at the community college
-I finally got a car! (2002 white VW Beetle)
-A good trip to the Outer Banks with family the week of Christmas
-Got my first art commissions
-Got into more music, as always
-Finally bought my electric guitar (proof that I can be diligent when it comes to saving money)
-Decided to be an art major
-Wrote over a third of the manuscript for my novel
-Developed my art abilities
Of course, there were other things that I can't think of at the moment. I've had some great times with my friends and family. I've learned from mistakes and I've learned how to let some things go. I've grown as a person and now I feel more prepared to take charge of the adult life that's ahead of me and begin really working towards my career.
I plan to keep up this blog better than I have been in the past few months, so I won't have to write such long posts as this one.
This has been a general recap of the past year and a little update of the past few months, as well as my general thoughts on New Year's resolutions. I look forward to the new year with quiet reservation (as Sherlock Holmes once said, "This is a time for observation, not for talk."). I'm excited to see what the new year has in store, but I also know that there will be challenges that I'll have to face.
Either way, the future is inevitable.
So until next time, my friends, be bold and have a happy New Year.
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