My take on New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions are a tricky one, aren't they? Every January, tonnes of us vow to make promises to ourselves in someway or another which we think will make us a better person for the up and coming year. With the help of Mr Wikipedia, I've learnt that New Year's resolutions began way back in the Roman times when they made promises each year to their god, Janus, for who January is named after. Resolutions also hold some religious beliefs with many Christians making them and praying for the year ahead. Jewish people reflect on their wrong doings of the past year during their New Year, Rosh Hashanah which is culminated in Yom Kipper; the Day of Atonement. 

In 2007, Professor Richard Wiseman who actually lectures at my university conducted a study involving 3,000 people. The study showed that a massive 80% of those that make resolutions regrettably fail despite 55% of these people feeling confident at the beginning that they would succeed. 

So why do we do it every year when we know the odds are very much against us? 
Now I'm no expert, however for someone who has ashamedly made resolutions each January 1st and gone on to spend the year failing them, I have a strong inkling to why we put ourselves through it each year. A New Year gives each of us a somewhat sense of starting again. A re-birth in which we can put all the mistakes and bad memories of the past year behind us and look forward to creating a better us. Whether that be to loose weight, exercise more, become more organise, give more to others or to simply stop ordering late night pizzas. (guilty!)

From looking at Professor Wiseman's statistics though, maybe it is time to give the impending and dooming resolutions a miss this year and instead, look at how to better ourselves in a different way. I think we take too much ease in looking at the negative in the past or in ourselves rather than the things which we have achieved and succeeded at. Without sounding like an arsehole, I've done some things this year which I am really proud of and experienced things which I will relive when my days are spent in a home. I've also had to go through things this year which have been really, really, really crap. That's life unfortunately and, instead of us dealing in those really crap things and making list after list of ways in which we think we can make ourselves a better human being, why do we not simply remember the good and expand on that? 

The on going expansion of technology is allowing us to do this. Take the ever popular Instagram app. I'm sure if you use it, you will have seen for the past week or so, many of the people you follow posting 'flipagram' photos; a collection of photographic memories throughout 2013 to reminisce upon. This is a great way to visually remember all you got up to in the past year. 

Why do we not reflect on those memories and experiences we have made in 2013 and use them to take us in to 2014?

It is also important to remember that you do not just have to wait for change at new year: you can do it any day/hour/minute of the year. Because, from a cynical point of view, you are not going to become that dream person overnight. You're not going to suddenly become a size 10 or be smoke free come 3rd or 4th January. It's going to take a shit load of hard work, a few tears and some slip ups. And it is not the end of the world if these slip ups become more frequent. There's always tomorrow. 

So good luck with your resolutions this year and remember, you're actually pretty amazing being the person you are at the moment. 

Kat xx