Health and Wellness

Goals

Anna Noumtinis Bilingual Journalist

Last week at work, I was having a late lunch, and was alone in the break room until one of my colleagues walked in. He asked how I had been, the usual pleasantries, then I asked him if he had any New Year’s resolutions. He then said something that blew my mind: he doesn’t make New Year’s resolutions. He explained that this was because he finds the start of the year to be a busy and bad time to start new habits, adding that he set little goals he wants to achieve throughout the year. I was extremely impressed by his response, which had gotten me thinking.

Before he said this, I never would have considered January a bad time to start new goals, habits or projects, but it totally is! January is typically when we have the most snow, slush, frigid temperatures, and windy weather. It is also one of the months where it gets dark by 5 p.m., with a cold, dark atmosphere that makes it unmotivating to get out of bed, let alone to start your new habit of waking up early for a bit of morning yoga! Another issue with January is the multitude of administrative tasks that need to be refreshed and restarted, including renewing memberships, paying bills, putting aside money for plans that will occur in the warmer months, choosing elective courses, and much more. January is also a rough month financially, as your December statement comes through with bulging numbers from all your holiday shopping. However, that’s not to say that the above is the case for everyone; there are some that might still find January the perfect time to start their particular goals. I can understand the feeling of hope and novelty that a new year brings, especially the desire for a fresh start.

After my conversation with my coworker, I have come to the conclusion that the ‘new year, new start’ mentality is a social construct. While the New Year does mark a beginning, it doesn’t have to mean more than that. Our society uses the marking of a new measure of time as the marking of a new beginning, but Day 1 of any new habit, goal, or project can also be seen as a new beginning. Day 1 doesn’t have to coincide with Day 1 of a new year; it could coincide with the start of a new month, new moon, or even the 26th day of the month.

The point is that you can start a resolution of doing yoga every morning on May 3rd, the same way you could do so on January 1st. Goals and resolutions are meant to keep us striving to become better version of ourselves, and to help us challenge ourselves to stimulate our minds and souls. It doesn’t matter how many goals you make for yourself, or when you start them, as long as you desire to make a change in your life to better yourself, have the self awareness of how to work towards this change, and know when the best time to start this work is.

For those of you who have started working on your resolutions in January, I hope that they are going well! And for those of you who might not have made resolutions, or started working on the ones you already wrote down, keep in mind that this might not be the right time for you to start this new goal. Maybe you need to wait another month before you start! You can set goals for yourself at any time, and you can start working on them at any time you wish. Be patient with yourselves and the process. It is not an easy one, but I believe in you!