As an entry for the Indiaunited community weekly contest, I tried to ask myself why I should be making a new year resolution. Honestly, it feels weird that I want to push myself to do something that I have never done before.
And thinking about it, I asked myself about why people like making new year resolutions and how true that people actually stayed put in the resolutions they made for themselves as the year rolls out. One of the reasons I can see why most people makes a new year resolution rest on their inability or inadequate in doing something meaningful for themselves in the past year and making a resolution means that they are now ready to rectify their shortcomings, so it is something to take pride in themselves for making a change for the better.
It's a common practice for people to start making new year resolutions when a new year just started, but for me, I don't fancy the idea of making new year resolutions, I prefer to roll with the tide and follow which ever direction the year leads me.
Although I do have a few goals that I would like to achieve but they are not new year resolutions, they are things that I will work on in my life and they are never an obligation. Things like changing sleeping time, and adding exercise routines to my morning schedule are not resolutions, they are simply changes of habits which could easily be forgotten after a few weeks or months and I wouldn't feel guilty about it.
New year resolutions are good, but the pressure that comes with it is what I don't like and wouldn't want to put myself into it. Making new year resolutions is like setting an arbitrary deadline for achieving your resolutions, and when you don't achieve them, you feel like a failure. In my opinion, I think it's better to not make any resolution, because making resolutions puts you in a competition against time. And you know that no one can compete with time and come out victorious.
New year resolutions don't change anything, if nothing, they only succeeded in putting us under intense pressure when trying to keep to them. The majority of people making new year resolutions today, did the same thing last year without achieving most or any of their resolutions. Resolutions make you want immediate results and it can lead to disappointment.
For example, you just made a resolution to improve your finances for the year by making at least $5 a day, and you are a writer on the hive platform. You are going to be disappointed because making that amount as a writer on Hive is not entirely in your hands no matter how good you are as a writer.
I think that we should be cautious when it comes to making a resolution because events of life are not set in stone. Things can change along the way which can alter your resolutions. What do you do then, if things happens this way, will you change your resolutions too?
At this point, you find yourself under pressure to hold on to your resolution, and there will also be people that were looking up to you because of your resolution, and your are expected not to disappoint them. This create a lot of pressure and you will also be judged for failing them if you are not able to meet their expectations. So it's better to be cautious and not make a resolution in the first place and just allow yourself the flexibility to roll with the tide.
One important thing about making a resolution is that when you achieve your goals, it's not just your victory, all the people that looked up to you also shared in the victory. Same thing when you fail, you are not only the one who gets disappointed, those looking up to you also feel it, but not with consideration, but of judgement and condemnation on your person for failing them.
New year resolutions only works for people who know how to adapt to changes because they never follow a strict resolution. But those who held on to a strict resolution often end up being let down. It will be a big mistake to think that our resolutions are enough for us to achieve our goals for the year, because at the end of the day it's all about how much effort we are willing to put in.
Success is about how much we are willing to change and how much we are willing to work on ourselves, but if we are not ready to do that then I think that we shouldn't make any resolution in the first place. I think that the best way to approach this is to make a plan that you are willing to work on in your life and then start working on it and each day will be a victory and at the end of the year when you look back, you will see that you have been able to achieve something and that will be rewarding for you.
I didn't make any resolution in the previous year, and I think that was the reason why I was able to adjust with the changes that came my way and was able to see new opportunities along the way during the year.
To round up this post, I want to say I am a person who is still learning and on a mission to understand the world better. I am a person who wants to grow and keep exploring. I don't know what tomorrow holds for me, but I am ready to find out. This is all I have to say about the year 2026. No making of resolutions, but just keep on rolling with the tide, and learning along.
Have a prosperous New year.
The attached image is mine.