Every New Year’s I follow the tradition of making a few resolutions. I would tell myself that this is the year I will start waking up at 7 a.m. and be an absolute unit, or that I’m gonna get into gym life and become super fit. One year I even swore I would master three different languages (and no, this did not happen). But as February rolls around, these ambitions seem to always escape. So, as I geared up for 2025, my pie-in-the-sky ideas were soaring, as usual. But instead of that exciting little tingle I usually get when I set new goals, all I could think about was the past failures. The failures that had become just as traditional as the resolution-making itself. But then it hit me. What I had been seeking in these resolutions wasn’t really a new me, but a replacement for who I actually am. This is the reason why my yearly aspirations consistently deplete before the end of January.
For as long as I can remember everyone told me that “the early bird catches the worm.” One should wake up at 7 a.m. sharp and then finalize their day at 9 p.m. for the perfect ratio of time. So I made it my mission to try this out. Who wouldn’t want a perfect ratio of day and night? However, I quickly realized that this philosophy does not work for me because I am wide awake at 3 a.m. This is when my brain is in peak activation mode, and I can actually get work done. I find that my usual sporadic thoughts during the day become much more manageable when the middle of the night rolls around.
As for my failure at gym life, I recall the first time I entered a gym – and not like a school gym, but an “I’m gonna lift weights and run on a treadmill” type establishment – I got so freaked out with the smell. Then I felt my chest tighten as the realization that there was an abundance of people surrounding the place crawled onto my skin. Somehow, I finally got myself to shovel my way to the machines, but I soon found that they were more foreign than any of the languages I studied for a week. Since then, I have not gone to a gym and don’t ever plan to again. It’s just not my scene.
Annual resolutions becoming synonymous with defeat is quite common. According to the Forbes article, “Forget New Year’s resolutions. Impactful leaders focus on requirements,” it states: “A staggering 91% of people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions, with only 9% feeling successful in maintaining them by year’s end. Even more alarming, 23% quit their resolutions by the end of the first week, and 43% abandon them by the end of January.” It’s no wonder why February feels so gloomy since it seems to be the end of the hopes and aspirations of the new versions we try to build.
By the time this article is out in the world, February of 2025 will have already arrived, and the resolutions you made trying to live up to the “New Year, New Me” trope will probably have been buried. But if you’re like I am and have made these resolutions and tried and definitely did not succeed at being this unrecognizable version of yourself, you’re most likely going up against your natural grain. And it’s no surprise that defeat is always too close for comfort since we suppress who we are. I mean, let’s be real here, I am not meant to be a gym rat, and I am not meant to be an early bird. And also, mastering three languages in 365 days is… quite the undertaking. But, I’m not mad about these realizations. In fact, I am actually quite content.
Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t need self-improvement or that our resolutions are made with ill intent. In fact, they’re probably made with the best objectives at heart. But, what if we shifted them to be more tailored to who we are? Instead of forcing myself to wake up crazy early (at least crazy for me), I should be working with my natural circadian rhythm instead of fighting it. And in lieu of going to the gym, I found that I really love outdoor activities such as canoeing, hiking, backpacking, cycling, etc. So, I should strive to do these as my main form of exercise. As for languages, focusing on one is the best way for me to actively learn it, so that’s what I should do.
We all want to be the best version of ourselves; that’s why we set goals and have aspirations, especially when it feels like we have a clean slate. But, we often forget that we are not all the same, and sometimes what works for one person might not be a successful solution for another. So, since I spent January as someone I am not, February is my 2025 makeshift New Year. Don’t think I won’t be making a resolution (it’s tradition). However, instead of trying to become an abnormal version of myself, I’m simply going to uplift what I have.
Photo courtesy of MainStreetFamilyCare.
