Resolutions

Why making New Year's resolutions is a waste of time!

We've all been there. As the year ends, fireworks go off and champagne pops, and we announce, "This year, I'm going to change my life!" Your mind will wander to a new, better you—someone who works out, eats well, and is always on time.

The next week, you're still in your pyjamas and eating crisps while you try to figure out what went wrong.

Let's look at the reasons why goals don't work:

• 1. The membership to the gym that's more of a gift

  This year I'm going to be fit. When you join in January, you're full of hope and ready to lose those holiday pounds. But by the middle of February, you know that the gym is only a place for your registration card to rest. No matter how many times you say you'll go, and then don’t, the gym keeps getting your monthly donation.

• 2. The "I'm Going to Get Things in Order"

  This is how your house looks on January 1st:  you've promised to get rid of everything that doesn't make you happy, so your drawers are nicely arranged, and your calendar is colour coded. Another month goes by, and you're tripping over laundry, and your calendar looks like a Tetris board with meetings that run into each other.

• 3. The Wish to Be Financially Free

  This is a good one. You say, "I'm going to save more money this year!" as you sip your cappuccino and look through Amazon. After a few days, your cart is full of things you didn't need but were sure you had to have.

• 4. The 5-minute "I'm Going to Meditate Every Day" idea

  You open a meditation app, decide what you want to achieve, and get ready to calm down. You start to think about lunch after three minutes, and then you start to think about all the things on your to-do list that you never get to. It turns out that your inner peace is just a nice thought that's stuck between other ones, like the things you forgot to do yesterday.

• 5. The three-hour social media detox

  You look at your phone on January 1 and tell everyone, "I'm getting rid of all my social media accounts!" The first few hours are very quiet and peaceful. Around lunchtime, you start to wonder if you can do without it. You decide you can't, so you go back to social media.

• 6. The Road to "Being More Positive"

  You told yourself, "I will be calm and happy this year!" Then you get stuck on the worst roundabout ever, and someone cuts in front of you! You're very angry, and you're making hand signals to the car in front of you that are easy for them to understand. Your cool exterior has worn off, and the Incredible Hulk has taken its place.

Why resolutions don't work: it's all about what you expect.

It's like those do-it-yourself jobs that you start with a lot of enthusiasm but never finish. You make a lot of promises to yourself, but you never keep them. The problem isn't the answer itself; it's the unrealistic hopes that come with it. It's hard to change, and things rarely get better overnight.

What's the Fix? Accept that you are not perfect. That nobody is.

We might want to think about lowering the bar for goals. "I will jog around the block sometimes" would be a better sentence than "I will run a marathon." If you want to say, "I will never eat sugar again," say "I will try to drink more water between snacks." New Year's resolutions shouldn't be about doing impossible things; they should be about trying, failing, and smiling as you go.

Let's make 2025 the year we accept our flaws and try to be a little better... but not too much better. Because let's be honest: we don't need to be perfect!