Are New Year’s Resolutions Really That Cliché?

Happy New Year and welcome to 2022! I know I won’t be the first or the last person to say this but I honestly can’t believe we’re in 2022 already, the last two years have completely flown by despite them being years that we probably did the least out of everything.

Now, I understand that New Year is one of two things for many people. It’s either really cliché and the hype around it is unnecessary, or it’s one of the best times to get that fresh start feeling and to look at your life and see what needs to change.

For me, I’m in the second camp; I LOVE the feeling of New Years and you could even say I’m a walking-talking cliché, you certainly wouldn’t be wrong in your assumption. Having one specific date to look forward to is something that is motivating in itself, it gives you a purpose and it gives you a reason to look forward at what you want to achieve, but to also reflect on what you have accomplished and what hasn’t went so well, over the last year.

There is certainly the argument that you shouldn't need to start on a New Year, a Monday or the start of a new month, why don't you just start today? And that can work for so many people, they can flick the switch in the middle of the day and make a change, but for me and many others, I need that significant change of the clock or the date to truly start.

The concept around New Years can be as big or small as you like. It doesn’t have to be anything special or it could be a time where you base your goals and your dreams around, it’s completely up to you. For me, I have experimented over the last five years with goal setting because there will never be one method that works for everyone. You might write your goals on a post-it note and stick it on the fridge so you see it every single day, you might write it down in a lovely notebook and put it away and only look at it every few months; everyone has different needs.

One of the biggest decisions for people is, do you make your goals public?

Now, you don’t have to go shouting about them on a blog or talking about them on Instagram, will you tell your friends or family? Will you confide in someone about them or are they just for you? Or maybe you do put them online and talk about the progress you have made every month. It really comes down to a personal decision and what motivates YOU.

There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to this; I found two out of hundreds of articles that had differing opinions. One by CNBC talks about how the advice of a successful TED talk was to keep your goals to yourself but research done in 2019 by Ohio State University showed that people were more committed to their goals after they share them, in particular, if they share them with someone whose opinion they respect or if they see this person as a “higher status”.

The article by Fast Company that I came across gives you a better perspective of both sides of the coin. For example, if being accountable to someone doesn’t motivate you or if you’re trying to accomplish something you have never done before, maybe keeping your goals quiet is the best option. However, if you need external accountability or if you need a sense of community whether that be in person or online, sharing your goals may be productive in order for you to achieve them.

Over the years, I have shared my goals on my social media and I really don’t see any harm in it, but for this year, I’ve decided to keep them private for the time being. There’s no sensitive information in any of them, but I want to see if there are any changes in my mindset towards them, if I keep them to myself.

Whatever you decide to do this year, do it for yourself first. Plan three month, six month or even nine month goals, if all year is too daunting. It’s all about what motivates you, we’re all different

As always, thank you for reading, and again, Happy New Year!