As with each year that comes to a close, focus shifts to the future. Often there are expressions of hope for what the upcoming year might bring, or in the very least, that the new year will not be nearly as bad as the last.
This December I noticed a trending word being used by content creators, “reset.” Perhaps reset could be another alternative to “resolutions.” New Year’s “aspirations” or “goals” have been contending to bump out resolutions. Maybe there is a search for a new word to dethrone the traditional resolution because the latter has become synonymous with failure. The commonly reported stat online is around 8% – 9% of people successfully keep their resolutions, with the majority of people stopping within the first week to first month of the New Year.
A reset, to me, is like an exhale and relaxing the shoulders away from the ears. A pause in the chaos to bring it all back to center. Whereas resolutions feel like setting my lips in a grim line, with determination to force my chosen goal(s) through to the finish line. The former seems to be a rather more pleasant approach than the latter.
After a big, deep breath and once more centered, you can reflect on which of your behaviors have gone awry and you want to be more intentional about moving forward. And guess what? It’s probably going to take more than a day to recenter, especially if that day is January 1st, right after late night revelries. You might need the whole month of January or even longer to feel ready to make changes. Deep winter is a time that naturally lends itself to rest anyway, which is much needed after the bustle of the holidays.
Rest, reset, then resolutions (or aspirations or goals). You might find your intentions (another contender to dethrone resolutions) are more refined after you allow yourself time to recharge and reflect. Ease into the new year, there’s 12 months of it after all.