Ok, this blog is aimed mostly at those two or three people that made resolutions for the new year. Today is your day — it’s Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day. Believe me, I know how hard it is to follow resolutions taken on New Year’s Eve, and if you’ve gotten this far and haven’t fallen off the wagon, good for you. But sometimes (most times) you have to acknowledge you’re not going to keep a resolution and withdraw it — for whatever reason. The calendar says this is “Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day.” It’s an annual celebration observed every January 17 for those of you that got carried away on New Year’s Eve.
So if you fall into the “new year, new me” category, you can officially give up today. But giving up doesn’t necessarily reflect a lack of willpower. In fact, changing your mind about sticking with some of your intentions is probably a smart idea. Actually, if you have followed your new year’s resolution until now, you have achieved quite a lot — now you can go back to your old self, and feel relaxed and guilt free.
People who study people’s behavior generally agree that if you feel like you need to make a resolution, then the message is that something about you is inadequate and you need to change it.
Some people that aren’t completely ready to throw their resolution out the window, use Ditch Resolutions Day to reset and/or modify their 1 January intentions — maybe by coming up with a simpler, more positive plan not fueled by a holiday hangover.
So no matter if you’re just forgetting about your resolutions today or taking the day to re-think and recommit, this is the day to do it. I think it’s a good idea — someone could have called today “celebrate your imperfections day,” or something like that. Even though that nomenclature might sound a little less severe, I like the idea of just admitting your mistake and “ditching it.”
— 30 —