Resolutions are made to be broken

It is the beginning of a new year and inevitably people have begun to talk about their New Year’s resolutions—their goals for the upcoming year. Everyone knows those goals, the same goals that are almost always broken.

People typically either plan big and elaborate resolutions that are nearly impossible to keep, or they choose the common resolutions that most people choose, such as to lose weight or to quit drinking.

Every single year, people say the same thing: “This is the year I am finally going to lose those 10 pounds,” or “This is the year I will finally stop smoking.” Of course, they say this as they are stuffing their faces or taking down every “last” smoke in sight on New Year’s Eve.

Just as much as making New Year’s resolutions is a tradition, so to is breaking them. And yet people still continue to make these annual promises, thus rendering them ridiculous and completely useless.

And though we all may know in the back of our minds that keeping up with our resolutions is unlikely, we still feel bad when we fail to achieve them.

New Year’s resolutions are horrible for people’s self-esteem. When a goal is not obtained, people’s views of themselves decrease; their self-worth is lowered. Therefore, when people set generally unattainable goals for themselves (because resolutions are meant to be broken, so it does not matter if they are in the realm of possibility) it is detrimental to their confidence.

People also use New Year’s resolutions as an excuse. For example, it is okay if they drink a keg by themselves on New Year’s Eve because tomorrow is the new year, and that is when they made the resolution to stop drinking. It is okay if they eat three pies on New Year’s Eve because next year is when they vowed to lose weight.

Don’t use this time as a crutch for the things that you dislike, or a justification to put things off until tomorrow. A genuine resolution doesn’t have a clock—it is something that can be made every day of the year.

Annually lying to yourself and to others cannot be good. Such lies can destroy your self-confidence and create bad karma. Why would anyone put themselves through the pain and misery of constantly trying (well, kind of) and falling short of their goals?

New Year’s resolutions are essentially good, in theory. But in reality, they are basically worthless. They severely damage people’s self-esteem, self-image and self-worth. The idea is for people to better themselves each year and to improve their lifestyles. New Year’s resolutions would be great if that was actually what they were used for, but instead people use them as excuses to “live it up” because they will make better choices the next day.  Could our resolutions really just be a habit of putting things off until tomorrow?

Do not misunderstand me—it is good for people to want to improve themselves and their lifestyles. And in all honesty, if you actually want to do that, good for you. But you don’t need the holiday to do it. Overall, the idea of New Year’s resolutions is worthless. Much like the way people feel the need to have a resolution for a new year, they needlessly feel the need to have a date on Valentine’s Day.

Go ahead and make a goal, but you do not need a New Year’s resolution to do that. There is not a short window in which improving yourself can be accomplished. You can start whenever.

People need to make one last and final resolution for this New Year, and for all New Years to come:  Stop making New Year’s resolutions. ?