“New year, new me”: I recite to myself as I get up at 7:30 a.m.. I will go to the gym, maybe get a smoothie and go back home to start the rest of my day.
The moment the clock strikes midnight and the old year sweeps behind us like a sore memory, we tell ourselves that this is our year. For the past few weeks, social media has thrown around new topics for trends, promoting the best new diets for the new year and ‘How to Get a Boyfriend 101.’ 2025 is going to be one for the books.
But is there a point where wellness turns to weariness, and what was supposed to bring good fortune only brings frustration?
Every new year, we all draw up a vision board. Sometimes the goals fizzle out in a few weeks — or honestly a few hours — but from what I have seen, there seems to be an obsessive aspect to maintaining such standards for ourselves.
Some of my friends joined a local gym, my mom went on a full sugar-free diet and I think my brother has been outside practicing lacrosse every single day.
I was never the girl to go to the gym, let alone have a membership and go every day, but here we are. For my New Year’s resolution, I wanted to have a more active lifestyle and be more conscious of how I spend my time.
While I changed my lifestyle by trading bed rotting for weighted squatting, it is important to recognize when commitment becomes a cycle of pressure and guilt.
Whether it is internal or external pressures to maintain a certain lifestyle or achieve a certain goal during the new year, it is important to stay mindful of potentially unrealistic expectations one is setting for oneself.
Putting a time stamp on certain expectations to look a certain way or achieve a certain goal may not go the way we want it to, and this applies to goals beyond a diet.
At 11:59 p.m. we go under the table and eat our 12 grapes, counting down the wishes and dreams we set for the new year, but again, it is vital to not get wrapped up in what could be. Finding change and setting goals is important for any person, but it is also important to pace yourself and not expect the impossible.
This year, let us not cloud our minds with versions of ourselves that may not be plausible. This year, let us seek happiness within ourselves, and not rely on others for that.
Only then will 2025 truly be one to remember.
