Many people choose Jan. 1 as the day that they start their new goals for the new year, but that day is no better than any other day to start bettering oneself.
The idea of setting a New Year’s resolution is a widely accepted tradition by many, but according to CBS, more than half fall out by the six-month mark.
Most goals set are not sustainable for everyday life and cannot be maintained for long periods of time. Jumping into a strict diet or beginning to exercise every day is not the best way to change your lifestyle right away.
New Year’s Day is also a poorly placed day for resolutions to start. Jumping from the overindulgence of food from the holidays to strict diets is a difficult if not impossible task for most people to accomplish. There is no reason that you have to start trying to reach a goal on New Year’s Day.
For any big change, it is important to create habits that facilitate change. In a study done by Philippa Lally, a health psychology researcher at University College London, she disproved the idea that it only takes 21 days to develop a habit. She found that “it took anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for people to form a new habit.” According to Lally, “on average, it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic.”
Change cannot happen overnight — there has to be preparation and planning before the change can begin. In order to make a change, a person must first consider making a change, contemplate a change, prepare to change and then put the plan in action. According to Christine Carter Ph.D., “the actual behavior change (like starting to exercise, or going on a diet) is not the first stage of change, but the fourth.”
Goals start out as merely a wish to change, and, for many people, that is all they ever are. According to author Jeff Goins, “without a stronger resolve, you have no hope of accomplishing your resolutions.”
The difference between the words “resolve” and “resolution” is very small, but the difference in practice is much more significant. One must resolve to make a change in their life while, in contrast, creating a resolution is simply wishing one’s life would change. You can resolve to make a change any day of the year — it does not have to be the first day.
“All that changes in the new year is a number,” sophomore engineering major Nick Weaver said. “It is not some magical date that creates change.”
The other 364 days out of the year are just as effective, if not better, to start reaching the goal of bettering yourself. Do not let the idea that you have to start changing on the first day of the year stop you from trying any other day of the year.
No specific day keeps anyone from being the best version of themselves any other day of the year. Resolvers should not be content with waiting to change and should take the initiative and start on the road to change whenever it personally feels best to.
