Lol, just once I wish we had one of these threads where people didn't argue about whether or not New Years Resolutions are pointless. Maybe next year finally. I see New Years Resolutions as a very good thing and it always bums me out to see the pointless negativity surrounding them.
It's simple really. The end of a year and beginning of another is very symbolic culturally as it represents change and growth. So at the end of the year, people tend to be very introspective about what they've accomplished that year and what they feel they failed at, etc. So with that in mind, the beginning of the year, while these thoughts are still in your mind, is a good time to decide what you are going to do about it.
Yeah, the New Year is really just an arbitrary time and there is no "real" reason to start then than any other time. But if it is a good source of motivation for someone, then that's not a bad thing. Besides, realistically achieving goals always involves a level of planning and visualization anyway, so setting a specific date to begin (and hopefully a schedule that continues from that starting date) is nothing but helpful. Also keep in mind that not every goal starts right on New Years, a lot of goals are "I started X last November and I want to continue with it this year" or so.
Some people might use it as an excuse to put off self-improvement and goals for a while, but that's just plain procrastination and laziness and those people know it. So like with all things, it just depends on if a person is genuine or not, if they are being honest with themselves and what they want. It really doesn't have to be that complicated.
I was planning to make a similar thread but I wasn't really active so yeah. But what I am more interested in is if people have managed to make good on their resolutions from previous years. Some of them took me more than just one year, but I think I'm doing pretty well.
In 2014 I wanted to get more into music (after kind of falling out with it after high school) and start a band. I have done that, I got good at saxophone again, and learned piano in college in 2015. The band is currently at like 2-3 members and I hope to be recording an album sometime this year. We're playing mostly music from video games, anime, and stuff in that particular cultural sphere. In 2014 one of my New Years Resolutions was to learn Harmonica and I did eventually do that in 2015. Last month I also got a ukulele and a trumpet so that is gonna be cool too!
Another resolution I had for 2015, after coming off a pretty big argument with my dad in November 2014, was to just be more in control of myself and not get angry and get into fights with people again. It really helped, as far as I remember, I haven't really gotten into a heated argument with someone since then. Feels really nice to have self-control.
This year I only have one resolution in particular, which is a continuation of my 2014 one, is to continue improving my Vietnamese. It's something I have been doing since I declared it in 2014, albeit very slowly. But I have a feeling this year it's going to kick up a bit!
Aside from that, most of them are just general things, like wanting to be more relaxed about life and being able to accept things. Just general self-improvement in all the general ways. I don't think just "general improvement of character" is a bad goal to have either, as long as you are mindful and consciously aware of all the different things you want to improve.
Anyway, I wish everyone a very happy new year and hope that everything goes well for you!
