Ask Mikey: Why not make resolutions year-round?

Ahwatukee Foothills Newspaper
January 15, 2010 

Have you ever noticed that when the new year comes along the gym is jam packed for the first three months? Like before when you wanted to get on a machine it would almost always be available to you, but in January, February, or even March, there is no possible way to even get on the wait list at the gym? What’s funny is everything is back to normal usually by April or May? Why is that?

Why do we make resolutions and stay committed to them for only the first three months of the new year, and then let our resolutions fizzle or slip right through our fingers? Have you ever noticed that people follow this habit every single year? Each year they say, “Starting next year I’m going to do this,” or “I’m going to do that differently.”

Why wait until the new year to make a resolution? Why not make resolutions all year long?

I think people see the new year as a fresh starting point to begin resolutions to break our bad habits. We don’t want to make resolutions during a fiscal year so, instead, we continue our bad habits until the new year comes around. After a few months of trying to break our bad habits, we eventually fall back into our comfort zone?

Why is that? Why can’t we truly keep our resolutions and stay true to ourselves and our inner goals that we have?

I mean, obviously, if every year we all make resolutions to go back to the gym and work out, somewhere deep inside we really do care about our health and our bodies. If we say after the first of the year, “I am going to stop drinking so much” or “I am going to spend more time with my family,” somewhere inside us, whether we want to admit it or not, we really do want to stop drinking, and we really do want to not put in so many hours at work and spend more time with our families at home.

How about this year we try something different? Why not say “These are my resolutions that I am going to work on all year long to make some changes in my life.” Instead of looking at the whole year, why not just take it one day at a time – day resolutions if you will. Each day make resolutions – I am going to walk to work instead of drive today, and when I come home I am going to turn off the computer and spend time with my 5-year-old son.

I think the reason why we cut our resolutions short after about March of each “New Year,” is because we put too much pressure on ourselves. If we just take it one day at a time instead of making these unrealistic year-long goals, we would actually spend more time working on our resolutions than stressing over them. When you stress over the pressure you put on yourself, you are more likely to stop working on your resolutions all together because you will lose interest and motivation.

And 2010 is not just a new year this year – it is the start of a new decade. Leave all of your “New Year’s resolutions lists” in the past, and truly start fresh. Make resolutions but remember it’s the journey it takes for you to reach them and it’s not just about that final destination of 20 pounds just melting away, it’s all of the work that you put in little by little, on a daily basis, that eventually, over time, made the 20 pounds go away.

Just like your 5-year-old son may remember how you were at his birthday party, but what about all of the days in between? He’s going to remember whether or not you were there in between birthdays, as well as at his party. Think about it…