Your 2020 Resolution Should Simply Be To Better Yourself

There are certain resolutions you hear every year, resolutions you’ve probably made yourself, resolutions like: Exercise more. Quit smoking. Drink less. Save money. Eat healthier. Get a promotion. Learn a language. Learn an instrument. Learn a new skill.

It doesn’t matter what resolution you make, because pretty much anything you choose is going to boil down to the same thing. Better yourself. Be proud of yourself. Become the kind of person you always wished you were. 

You should keep that in mind as you head into the new year. You should remember the goal isn’t to harass yourself. It isn’t to make yourself miserable. No, breaking a bad habit or creating a healthy new habit isn’t going to be easy. There are going to be moments when you wonder why you’re putting yourself through all this stress. But you have to remember the reason is because you want to better yourself. Because you want to be able to look in the mirror and say you’re proud of yourself. At the end of the day, that’s who you’re doing this for. Yourself.

Changing yourself for other people might give you encouragement here and there. You might be extra pumped to workout if you’re interested in dating someone and want to get fit for them. You might have an easier time cutting back on junk food if you have a baby you want to watch grow up. You might be pushed to get a promotion if your spouse is supporting your journey. But at the end of the day, you have to be doing this for yourself. Because it’s what you want. Because it’s what is going to make you happy.

It will be so much easier to get through your bad days and your speed bumps if you’re able to say I’m doing this because it’s what I want to do. It will be so much easier if, instead of looking for external validation whenever you go a day without a cigarette or successfully go to the gym five days in a row, you give yourself the validation you’ve been craving.

The only way you’re successfully going to pull off your New Year’s resolution is if you’re doing it for yourself. That might seem selfish, but if you’re making a change for somebody else, you’re going to slack when they have their back turned. You’re going to see how much you can get away with. You’re going to test the limits.

But that won’t happen if you’re doing this for yourself. If you’re doing it for yourself, you’re going to stick to your goal because there’s no fooling yourself.

Remember, your reasoning behind a goal is just as important as the goal itself. There’s a huge difference between going to the gym because you want to feel better about your body or going to the gym because everyone in your life is pressuring you to lose weight. There’s a huge difference between learning a new instrument because you’re genuinely interested in the process or learning a new instrument because it might impress your crush.

That’s why you need to set a resolution you’re passionate about completing. A resolution that will make you feel even better about yourself.