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Every year on December 31, I become a different person. She drinks warm water. She forgives people. She believes in herself.
She also thinks waking up at 5 a.m. will solve everything, from poor mental health to India’s unemployment rate.
By January 7, she disappears. No FIR filed.
New Year’s resolutions are strange because they’re never about adding joy. They’re about correcting yourself as if you were a badly written draft that needs heavy editing.
Less carbs. More discipline. Less scrolling. More hustle. Less you.
I tried the classics. Gym memberships that saw me only once, for selfies. Journals with exactly three entries. “This year I’ll be consistent” was written repeatedly in different fonts. Apps that tracked my habits until I started lying to them.
The real problem with resolutions isn’t a lack of motivation. It’s a delusion. On December 31, we plan life as if January will come with fewer responsibilities, more money, better mental health, and zero emotional baggage.
January, however, arrives with EMIs, family expectations, unfinished trauma, and that same personality you were trying to escape.
So I solved the problem. I stopped making resolutions.
Revolutionary. Please hold your applause.
Instead of saying “I will change my life,” I made smaller, unserious promises. The kind I couldn’t disappoint myself with. Like:
I will not hate myself for resting.
I will not take advice from Instagram reels filmed in Bali.
I will not confuse productivity with self-worth.
I will allow myself to be average on tired days.
This year, my goals are not aspirational. They are realistic. Almost boring. And for the first time, I am actually sticking to them because they don’t require me to become a stranger to myself.
I also stopped treating January like a performance review. Growth doesn’t happen in calendar years. It happens on random Tuesdays, emotional breakdowns, and late-night overthinking sessions that somehow end in clarity.
Also Read: Breakfast Babble: Why the New Year Is My Favourite Holiday
The biggest lie New Year’s resolutions tell us is that change needs a date. It doesn’t. It needs honesty. And maybe decent sleep.
So no, I don’t have a 12-step plan. No vision board. No aesthetic morning routine. I have boundaries. I have flexibility. And I have stopped punishing myself in the name of self-improvement. This year, I didn’t resolve to be better. I resolved to be kinder to myself first.
And honestly? Eat 5 Star and do nothing (extra).
Sources: Blogger’s own opinion
Find the blogger: Katyayani Joshi
This post is tagged under: new year reflections, resolution fatigue, anti resolutions, quiet growth, personal growth journey, slow self improvement, breaking patterns, habit building, realistic goals, mental health writing, everyday satire, quirky personal essay, millennial thoughts, gen z writing, indian writer, lifestyle satire, self awareness, soft productivity, intentional living, slow living, less noise more growth
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