At the start of many new years, we often would form at least one resolution: “a firm decision to do or not to do something” for the year. Arguably, it has been suggested by some of my peers that participating in this tradition is too much pressure on yourself. On the flip side, some people thoroughly enjoy resolutions and challenging themselves. Whether you like resolutions or not, is it something we should be condoning in society as a whole?

For certain mental health issues, this pressure to succeed in a task might be too much (even if the task is simple) due to the pressure, expectation, and nature of it. Keeping in mind that Studies Show 91 Percent of Us Won’t Achieve Our New Year’s Resolutions. Resolutions have a unique effect on each person. It is easily understandable that they may not be suitable for everyone to adopt this tradition or be expected to.

Personally, I came up with a few things I wanted to achieve in the new year which I am going to share: Drink more water, learn more Italian, and blog more. This may seem like some very typical goals you would expect from someone making new year’s resolutions. I don’t find resolutions like these at the start of the new year to affect my mental health negatively. Maybe I am one of very few, but I would like to share my mind’s thinking and how resolutions could also be seen as a positive thing. As we know, achieving our resolution is a goal that is important to us and we can (possibly) gain a sense of accomplishment from it.

For the other 9% that keep their resolutions, how are you doing? Do you feel you would be better off without this tradition?

One of my resolutions is to learn more Italian. In this resolution, I want to know more than I did the following year. I don’t expect myself to know all Italian or have perfect grammar. By simpling knowing more (maybe remembering 15 words instead of 5) I give myself that sense of accomplishment and something to be proud of, even if it seems silly or too small of an accomplishment to some. I also make sure I have the resources to set myself up for success such as tutoring that I can do in my spare time. I believe making my resolution to be smaller I may be able to achieve more and be happier with the end result. Like many others, I do struggle with fears of failing but that is something I would also like to improve on and feel okay with. Because after all we are only human and always have something that we may not be able to do, or maybe we decided we don’t want to do anymore.

Do you think I am putting too much pressure on myself with these resolutions? If not a new year’s resolution, is there something more healthy we could be doing as a new tradition in its place? Let me know your suggestions or if you think we should we should stop these resolutions altogether.