Making New Yearâs resolutions should still be practiced
By Naomi Ambrose, Staff Writer
Another new year is here. Can you guess what else is here as well? If your answer is that itâs another year to question the relevance of making New Yearâs resolutions, I would like to congratulate you. However, if you agree that making New Yearâs resolutions remains important, Iâm with you.
While it may be worthwhile to appreciate both sides, Iâd like to focus on the latter. New Yearâs resolutions deserve to be celebrated and I believe that they donât get enough credit for their importance.
New Yearâs resolutions are great ways to motivate yourself and thereâs no better time to start a goal than at the beginning of the new year. It can be a rewarding experience to follow through with a goal you make. If you make a promise to yourself to go to the gym at least three times a week, youâre probably excited at envisioning the health benefits youâll get from a good gym workout. Additionally, when you follow through with your goal, youâll feel more confident in yourself. As another example, if you made a resolution to do some more volunteering, youâll probably feel happy to know that youâll be helping someone or some cause that you care about.
If you didnât decide to make one of those resolutions, or any resolutions for that matter, you wonât have that chance to experience the joy and sense of fulfillment that one could get from making a goal and sticking to it.
Making New Yearâs resolutions is also an excellent way to develop your follow-through skills and stick-to-itiveness. Letâs say that this year, you told yourself that youâd make a greater effort to perform a task such as quitting smoking or eating healthier. These are tasks that many people have as their goals but rarely actually decide to do. By committing to this task in the form of a resolution, even temporarily, youâll be happier with yourself that you followed through, whether it was for a few weeks or months.
You can also think about who else would be happy with that resolutionâsuch as your friends, significant others, and your family.
New Yearâs resolutions are also excellent tools for self-reflection. Sticking to your desire to go to the gym or eating better shows to yourself that you care about your health and well-being. You are taking some time to think about the extent to which you value your health or timeâa question that may ultimately help you to perform your work, class tasks, or projects to the best of your ability and lead to a higher overall quality of life
Itâs important to make goals for yourself and to stick to them, which is what New Yearâs resolutions celebrate. If youâve given up on making these resolutions, itâs my hope that youâll reconsiderâor at least be inclined to make them next year.
