Did you already give up on your New Year’s resolution?
Don’t worry, 75% of your friends have as well; but I’d like to propose a fix.
Today I received an email from a sock company I follow (No, it’s not Bombas. Yes, I’m going to write more about them in a different story.) claiming that 75% of people have already thrown in the towel on their New Year’s resolutions.
I’ll say that again… SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT!
I did some quick Googling and while I can’t find the exact research they’re referencing, there’s enough similar research out there to support their claim.
Regardless, New Year’s resolutions are hard, yet we feel the need to embark on them. I believe I understand why they’re so challenging and I’d like to propose a new approach for those who are like-minded.
Humor me as I take you on a journey of the holiday months.
It’s mid-November and Thanksgiving is upon us. You live in the northeast and the temperature has fallen into the 30’s. Worse yet, the days are getting shorter, officially dipping below 10 hours of daylight.
Thanksgiving arrives and you toss to the side any ideas of healthy living. Excessive food, desserts, and increased alcohol consumption rule the weekend. You say to yourself that you’ll get right back on the saddle now through Christmas… until you learn that Thanksgiving actually lasts through the first half of December.
December is full of more parties and obligations. Working out goes by the wayside along with the thought of healthy eating. You bounce from party to party, appeasing all of your family and friends while juggling the requirements of life. Overindulgence is the name of the game and you’ve become worthy of making 1st team all gluttony.
Finally, New Year’s Eve arrives, the finish line is in sight. All you have left ahead of you are a few more parties before you can cap off the multi-month binge. On December 31st you already have your resolution in mind:
- Join X gym
- Workout X times/week
- Follow X diet
- Participate in “Dry January”
It’s the perfect plan, you’re going to right the ship before it takes on an irreversible amount of water.
January 2nd arrives, you’re 8lbs heavier than you were six weeks ago and feel like absolute trash. You question if you had been unknowingly hit by a bus. Soldiering on, you drag yourself to the gym, eat nothing but kale, and dump the half bottle of Tito’s down the kitchen sink. You’re going to conquer the gremlins of the past two months and get back to your summer self.
February 1st arrives. You haven’t been to the gym in 3 days and just went out with friends for happy hour. You pigged out on pizza and beer because that’s what you needed in the moment. After making some weight loss progress, the happy hour saw you gain 1.5lbs overnight. Worse yet, your New Year’s resolution willpower is shot.
You throw in the towel.
What makes a New Year’s resolution dead on arrival?
The above example is admittedly bleak, but it’s not an entirely unrealistic scenario. I can personally identify with similar struggles and am wise enough to know I’m not alone. This begs the question:
Why in your right mind would you turn your life upside down on January 1st?
The holidays are hard enough as it is, then suddenly everything grinds to a halt in January. Worse yet, snow begins to accumulate while the temperatures bounce between the mid-20s and single digits. January and February are about as demotivating as it gets, and this is the time of year we choose to get ourselves back on track.
In a recent short form story, I briefly talked about my issues with Seasonal Affective Disorder. In this story I detail how SAD makes it hard for me to write, something that only requires me to sit on my butt in front of a computer to do, not even remotely as strenuous as dragging myself to the gym on a dark and frigid winter morning.
For this reason, I’ve come to accept that January through March are the exact wrong times of the year for me to start an intensive personal growth regimen. In the past, doing so has resulted in flame-out after flame-out, heaping on a mountain of self-loathing, which makes it even more difficult to begin healthy habits in the future.
If anything, January through March is the stretch of the year where I prioritize my mental health, offering myself much needed grace. This isn’t to say I throw all healthy habits out the window, not in the slightest. I’m just cognizant of not turning my world upside down for the sake of a resolution I’m not in the headspace to keep.
When is the best time of year to start a resolution?
If the above resonates with you, I’d like to recommend a new time of the year to begin your New Year’s resolution: spring.
The coming of spring brings a level of vitality not yet felt in the New Year. The ground begins to thaw, temperatures rise, leaves fill the trees, daylight hangs on longer into the evening. It’s a time of the year that brings rebirth, growth, and hope.
Springtime is when we are drawn outdoors, where we can kick the lingering effects of our winter hibernation and feel a renewed sense of hope in our lives. With the coming of spring, we blissfully drive with our car windows down on a 55-degree day, basking in the first warmth of the year.
With spring, we wave goodbye to the stranglehold of SAD and put on a light jacket of revitalization.
Without ever previously realizing it, spring has become the natural time of year for me to step into my New Year’s resolution. In years past I’ve started and kept multiple workout routines, and found a renewed state of health and motivation that lasted throughout the summer and fall seasons. This is no accident, I believe the spring season is the perfect time to wake up from our winter hibernation and get back to caring for ourselves.
If you are someone who has struggled to keep your New Year’s resolutions, I’d encourage you to find a renewed hope in the changing of the season from winter to spring. Use winter as your chance to give yourself much needed grace, being particularly mindful of your mental health. When spring arrives, use the vitality brought about by the season to supercharge your resolutions, giving yourself the best chance to thrive.
For those of you who nail their New Year’s resolutions, I would love your advice and I am forever jealous. That or I’m curious as to what latitude and longitude you call home.
However, if this story resonates with you, I hope it gives you a renewed sense of hope for the rest of winter as spring approaches. I have focused more on my mental health this winter than ever before, and it has been an absolute game-changer for me. Yes my motivation has struggled, yes I’m not taking care of myself as well as I should, but I’m doing much better than years past, and that’s all I need to get through the hardest part of the year for me.
I leave you with a challenge: what can you do over the next 6 months to prepare for a second go at your New Year’s resolution? What New Year’s resolution have you failed to keep this year that you’d like a second crack at? Leave your comments and let’s all give each other the encouragement we need to thrive in 2022.
For me, I need to get back to taking care of my cardiac health. Maybe this will be the year I give biking a fair chance. I have until March 20th to figure it out.
Until then, I’m okay with just getting by.
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