This Year You Should Make An "Old Year's Resolution” Instead



The whole concept of feeling pressured to come up with a significant goal or project to take on when the calendar year changes has some major flaws. Unless you’re in the right frame of mind, setting new year’s resolutions are typically empty words — things you tell yourself and others because you feel obligated to do so. Perhaps you’ve made a new year’s resolution in the past and failed to accomplish it, so you feel like setting one this year would be setting yourself up for failure. That’s why you’re better off making an “old year’s resolution.” Basically, an old year’s resolution is a way to acknowledge and accept that failure is a natural part of the self-improvement process, as opposed to taking an all-or-nothing approach that officially begins on or after January 1. So, here’s what to do: First, identify some positive change you’d like to make, but nothing so drastic that it becomes too daunting to even start. Then, give yourself permission to stumble now and then, remembering that practice makes perfect. Don’t pin yourself down to reaching a goal by a specific time. When you get there, you get there. The important thing is to work on your goal a little bit every day until you make it a habit. Whether it’s eating right, exercising more, being more financially responsible, or treating others better, all goals can be achieved if you don’t start out with unrealistic expectations. As with anything, do the best you can and give yourself permission to be human.