Restarting is a funny thing, and we as a society have long loved a good New Year’s resolution. A New Year’s resolution is “a promise to do something differently in the new year,” according to Webster’s Dictionary.
As humans we are doomed to repeat and quickly fail from temptations, laziness or accountability. After all, we’re only human.
Student Angelina Nguyen knows that feeling of laziness creeping up but says that it won’t stop her.
“Just persisting even though I’m not in the mood to do it helps me reach higher heights,” she said.
I myself have fallen prey to that, promising over many years and set resolutions that I would complete no matter what, but I let obstacles get in the way.
For example, being hopeful I would go to the gym more, keep my room clean or actually dress up in casual nice clothing instead of wearing athleisure everyday.
Even going as far as saying I would turn in articles, such as this one, on time — regardless if it meant staying up past midnight to finish.
If you knew me… You’d have clearly seen I let barriers get in my way and was only successful in completing one of those things. And it wasn’t the articles.
For student Angel Delauz his struggle was “discipline. I wasn’t really disciplined and I would procrastinate a lot more. And now-a-days, you know, I’m just sticking to it and just riding it out.”
But don’t be discouraged because New Year’s resolutions have been around for a lot longer than you think and we all have been in that same position of riding it out and taking it day-by-day.
National Geographic says that back in the first millennium B.C., a Babylonian king had publicly vowed to be a better ruler.
Now whether this happened and he was successful is up for discussion, but it laid the groundwork for the Romans to pick up the trend and incorporate it into the tradition of resolutions yearly like cleaning homes, stocking the pantry, paying off debts and returning borrowed items.
According to Baylor College of Medicine 88 percent of people who set New Year’s resolutions fail before the end of January and by the second Friday in January, known as “Quitter’s Day,” most of the population give up on their resolutions.
Sound familiar?
Student Cesar Rosas is not letting the stigma of failing his resolution stop him. Rosas is going to continue to become an Indie filmmaker and already has an entire crew to help him.
“Sometimes the challenge gets in my head a little bit… We all start off small and you got to work your way up there. No matter how long it takes you’re eventually going to reach that goal.”
Although if you’re like me hopeless and with commitment issues here are some tips for sticking to your New Year’s resolutions.
Many people will set mini goals in between the bigger picture to reach it. It will also help you celebrate and keep your optimism high knowing you’re one step closer.
Having an accountability partner is super helpful too. We all get lonely and discouraged at times but having a friend or community to motivate us and remind us of our goal incites a liveliness.
And despite the fact we all think that reinventing ourselves has to start at the beginning of the year, it can happen at any time.
In my opinion change doesn’t happen overnight and we should focus on learning about ourselves while creating better habits that will stick with us through time.
