Hey Pandas, What Do You Think About New Year's Resolutions? (Closed)

New year's resolutions are like valentine's day.

If you get your partner a card, some flowers, some chocolates just because 'that's what you're supposed to do', it's pointless. One day is as good as any other to show someone that you care, why consign it to one day?

You can make a resolution at any time and you're probably more likely to succeed because you have already reached the point where you have decided you want to do something about whatever it is.

That being said, in some cases (such as quitting something) it is a good idea to set an 'End date'. But the idea is to wean off/taper down that thing, not have a blow-out before quitting. To say 'My New Year's resolution is to eat less sugar', straight after the time of year where you are likely to eat more than normal, will only make it harder. But to say 'My New Year's resolution is to quit smoking' you should add a target, such as '...buy April' and start reducing the amount you smoke (or start cutting down at Christmas).

Either way, you need to be aware of your own capabilities. To make a resolution to see your friends more, when in reality you're happier at home doing your own thing and don't actually like going out, is counter productive and only going to serve to make you feel bad when you don't achieve it.

So I guess it depends on how you look at things, what the resolution is, and your own self awareness.

I’m neutral. Some people use them to motivate themselves. But there is no point in making them if you don’t take them seriously. A lot of people make them just because. I don’t think there is much of a point in making them. You can make weekly resolutions or monthly resolutions. I don’t mind them but I don’t think they are necessary.
Also sorry if this is hard to read. English is not my first language

Life is too unpredictable for resolutions.

Honestly, I love them. I see it as a way to reset, refine my goals from the previous year, contemplate what went wrong and what went right, wipe the slate clean and then set new goals. It’s my ultimate self-improvement motivation. This year I have a whole lot of hope for the future and I’m more excited about the coming year than I have been in a long time. Having said that, I’ve also learned, in a big part thanks to my Noom journey I started last year, to be more forgiving with myself. If I slip up, it’s not a failure. It’s an opportunity to learn what the cause of the failure was and make plans as to how to improve in the future. Like the saying goes, “Mistakes are proof that you are trying.”

It's neutral. I see them as a glorified version of setting goals for the year.
Seems easier to do something realistic & small with what you've learned from the previous year. I recommend time-line planning with setting any kind of goal. They help develop those baby steps, buffers, and contingency plans.

They are ridiculous. We all know they are nearly impossible to keep, so what she point

I love how everyone here thinks the same way. Why wait till the end of the year to make a resolution? Do it whenever. Me personally, I don’t like resolutions because I suck at sticking to them. I’ll tell myself, “ hey, maybe I should stop biting my nails!” I’ll do it for like a DAY… maybe… but I’ll just find myself doing it again. *welp* but, whatever.

New Year's resolutions like the vegan challenge, fitness/diet and alcohol-free January are a bit amusing. You do something for a month and then when February comes, how many people go back to their old ways. A lifestyle change requires a little more than a month, and it must be clearly goal-oriented. I myself am lazy and a hedonist, so exercise must aim at some other goal than maintaining health. That's why I made a promise that next summer and autumn I will do longer and more demanding hiking trips. Now I focus on walking a specific weight backpack with a specific mileage. The reward is enjoying nature. I would also like to finally crochet a sweater for myself, but I can't find the motivation.

They're kinda funny. I go to a gym near my house regularly and around Jan 1st to the middle of February there's a ton of people, but no one's resolution lasts any longer than that

I don't do New Years resolutions.
I suffer from Long Haul Covid and setting goals that I will not be able to achieve do to my illness feels stupid. Because the only thing I really want is getting better, but that's a thing no resolution can fix.

So I don't think about the future and just try to enjoy my life with the simple things I can.

In theory, they're a good idea, just implemented badly and without any instructions.

It's great that you want to lose weight! But that's not really a goal, it's complete lack of anything shaped like a resolution. Saying you want to lose 10 pounds is better, but also not perfect. Saying you want to do it in time for your cousin's wedding in 3 weeks is better, but not, you have the problem of it not being enough time to do it safely. So really, you gotta have realistic expectations and also plan these things into your resolution to increase your chances of success.

But really?

You can make a resolution any day of your life, New Years is just when everyone does it.

They shouldn't be called resolutions, but instead goals. Like, for example, my new years GOAL is to start going to the gym at least twice a week

There is no “special day” to start anything. Don’t wait. Wake up and do the thing. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to “get it right” this year. Just start and things will work out.

I, personally, make simple resolutions that I KNOW I can keep. For example, my resolution for this year is to make one person smile each day. I don’t mind them though

They're kinda funny. I go to a gym near my house regularly and around Jan 1st to the middle of February there's a ton of people, but no one's resolution lasts any longer than that

I think they can be useful if you're not overly ambitious. going from running 0 days a week to running 4 days a week will never work, but maybe starting off with just once a week or every other week would do you well.

New Year’s resolutions can be anything but a lot of them are to hard to get done but we all try

They’re difficult…Unless of course, you are always finish what you start.

I never commit to mine.
It’s like you tell yourself I’m going to do this then you just decide that it’s better to binge watch everything.

To eat less. Not "lose weight" but eat less in order to better appreciate food for quality, not quantity.