Every year around this time, we all contemplate what our lives will be like in the new year. We set our expectations for ourselves with resolutions that may or may not be kept and hope for the best for ourselves and our families.
What resolution have you set for yourself? How do you plan to go forward into the future?
This article will tackle new beginnings and following through on our goals in 2024.
What is a New Year’s Resolution Anyway?
A New Year’s resolution is a common tradition celebrated in the Western part of the world (but also in the East), where people declare that they will change traits or behaviors they do not like about themselves.
Resolutions are very personal and involve reaching for a goal one hopes to accomplish in the new year. A few common goals include losing weight or treating someone you know better.
There are many reasons to set a resolution for oneself on New Year’s Eve. Below are only two of them.
Resolutions make us feel good about ourselves. Making and keeping a resolution to yourself feels great. Celebrate even small victories toward your new year’s goal as you have moved a few inches forward in your healing journey.
Resolutions provide clarity. Making a list of goals provides one with direction, and then it is up to you to plan your next course of action. Without setting goals, you could waste your time, energy, and money, leading you to feel overwhelmed and unprepared for opportunities coming your way in the new year.
How to Make a New Year’s Resolution
There are a few simple rules to making your resolutions. Still, the most important is perhaps being realistic with your new goals. Making resolutions you cannot fulfill is not a good idea because you might feel terrible about being unable to keep your promises to yourself. One can see why making realistic resolutions is critical to meeting your new goals.
Here are some other tips for making great New Year’s resolutions.
Commit to your resolution. Commitments to change are easier to state than to accomplish. On the first day of the year, you may feel confident that you have set realistic and attainable goals. Still, the turmoil of life soon takes over, and you often find you have forgotten your promise to yourself. However, if you can commit and remind yourself each day of your new resolution, you will find you have reached your goals at least partially.
Write your resolutions down. Making a written list of your resolutions on paper in black and white often aids in helping you to remember what you promised yourself later when everyday life resumes. Write out a plan to accomplish each goal, being flexible with yourself.
Make one resolution and stick to it. Perhaps you are used to promising yourself several things around the new year but often find you have accomplished none in the end. You may not accomplish your New Year’s goals because you have set too many. Narrow down to one resolution for the new year and make it much easier to attain that goal.
Use reminders to help yourself remember. Reminders, such as a goal written on a sticky note and attached to your bathroom mirror, are beneficial. If you find your goal is too lofty, there is no sin in reducing it or changing it altogether.
Track your progress. How you complete this task depends on what goal you set. If you set a goal for therapy that you would like to accomplish in the new year, ask your therapist to help you track your progress. Suppose you have made a more personal goal. In that case, stopping and taking stock occasionally may be necessary to determine if you are on the right track. If not, adjust your course to get back on track.
Deciding to Make a New Year’s Resolution is a Personal Choice
Some people do poorly when setting a new year’s goal. These folks often believe they will not meet their resolution or have set their goals too lofty, dooming themselves from the start.
Making New Year’s resolutions is unnecessary for some people, and others simply do not wish to make any. That is okay. No one will force you to make promises to yourself for the coming new year, and it is understandable not to if your life is in turmoil.
New Year’s resolutions are meant to bring a decorum of joy and self-control, not to punish you.
Make sure that your resolution, should you decide to make one, is motivating. If it isn’t, you’ll give up very quickly on the steps you could take to keep it. Resolutions are meant to lead to better and sustainable change, not to turn a goal into a burden around your neck.
Alternatives to New Year’s Resolutions
Not all New Year’s resolutions are made alike. Some will make goals to make positive changes in their appearance. In contrast, still others will resolve to do better in their relationships.
There are some alternatives to New Year’s resolutions you can decide on instead of setting a definitive goal for the new year.
Take time to reflect on the year that is ending. What goals did you accomplish? What good and bad things happened to you in the former year? How could you have handled the negative things that came into your life better?
Contemplate for several moments or even days how you could improve your new year without committing to a resolution.
You can decide you will be you in all that you do. Your resolution may involve setting new boundaries and remembering who you are in situations where you get lost.
Choose to do something else instead of making a New Year’s resolution. One choice is to do nothing at all. Enjoy the holiday without putting yourself on the spot by making goals you know you will not keep. It is okay not to set any resolutions; instead, move forward into the new year without expectations.
Ending Our Time Together
I tend not to set any resolutions, instead letting the new year unfold. That may seem counterintuitive to some, but going into the new year with an open mind works best for me.
I have attempted to set New Year’s Eve goals in the past, but I knew even as I spoke them that I would most likely not complete them. It’s not that I do not wish to lose weight or write more books, but, instead, I am involved in allowing my life to unfold as it will.
Hell, if I resolved, I’d feel obligated to make it happen, but I am already working toward goals I have set for myself to complete in my own time, so why push it?
I may not be alive at some point next year, and neither might you. After all, we have this moment and no more. The greatest resolution I could set for myself is to live well and defeat those who hurt me so long ago. Since this is a daily goal of mine, it seems silly to make it a goal just for 2024.
One promise I can make for 2024 is to keep writing better and better content for you to enjoy. The CPTSD Foundation and I are dedicated to uplifting and educating you on the impacts of complex trauma and helping you navigate the maze that is life.
Happy New Year from all of us here at the CPTSD Foundation!
“At times, the solution to a maze is to reduce it to embers and walk straight through the ashes.” – Mary Doria Russell
“Life is a maze from which we never escape. Every decision takes us in a different direction, and every time we turn one way, we could just as easily have turned the other.” – Chloe Thurlow
CPTSD Foundation wishes to invite you to our Pride Program, which is offered weekly on Circle. In Pride, we discuss important topics related to complex trauma and how it has affected our lives. The program is led by a fantastic person who understands the issues facing the LGBTQIA+ community.
Come as you are, take what you like, and leave the rest.
The program is offered every Thursday at 7 pm Eastern time through the Circle app. If you are interested, you can find information here. If you are interested, don’t hesitate to contact the support team of CPTSD Foundation and sign up.
We look forward to seeing you there.
My name is Shirley Davis and I am a freelance writer with over 40-years- experience writing short stories and poetry. Living as I do among the corn and bean fields of Illinois (USA), working from home using the Internet has become the best way to communicate with the world. My interests are wide and varied. I love any kind of science and read several research papers per week to satisfy my curiosity. I have earned an Associate Degree in Psychology and enjoy writing books on the subjects that most interest me.
