Be inspired by reading on if you live in the northern hemisphere. I say this, because while enjoying the height of summer in the southern one, people have no reason to even dream of issues that this article discusses! This article also won’t interest you if you’re so motivated to achieve your new year’s resolutions that nothing will distract you on the way. But if you’re one of those people whose motivation has plenty of room for strengthening, read on too.
1 January is demotivating for new year’s resolutions
Albeit 1 January has become the most classic landmark of new year’s resolutions, I see tremendous irony but no surprise in why the promise of many people’s new beginnings passes out of their lives as quickly as the month of January itself. The reasons for this are simple, logical, and commonsense:
A conflict of realities
Firstly, while 1 January celebrates new year’s resolutions, the reality in many people’s worlds is more of blues. Lack of light, less money after the festivities, and the holiday blues are all hardly motivating. Albeit we’re socially conditioned to toast to new beginnings, many people feel unwilling to let go of the old comforts and take on the charge onwards and upwards. Their resolutions to start something new are more symbolic of what should be than of what is. After all, with plenty of [often fattening] festive food and drink still in the fridge, who would want to start a new strict diet in the centre of the dark end of the year? The light(ness) of the spring is far away and thinking about it now with the fridge still full of festive food and drink seems unthinkable….
But a month later is a different story.
As the daylight decreases and increases by roughly 15 minutes per week, the longer daylight becomes noticeable. If a ninetofiver walks out of work at 5:30, he will see daylight. Daylight brings natural energy into our bodies. We feel more alive and the pull of the outdoors. We open the windows, let in air, take deep breaths. And we listen to the birdsong and hope for the spring’s arrival. Isn’t this a much more motivating psychological environment to start something new in? Besides, February is a month of purification from the winter festivities and their consequences before the lighter parts of the year hit our lives. And the promise of the spring is closer now than it was on 1 January.
Many doesn’t mean all
At the beginning of this article I said that I was describing the situation of many people. Many doesn’t equal all. I am of those people to whom weather, darkness, nor holiday blues don’t present blocks to taking on new year’s resolutions and getting what they want. But this is an advanced state of being after years of getting there. And the majority of the world’s population – especially living in the well economically developed countries – does not have it.
So I wrote this article for those folks who need a little help to embark on their dreams. The push of a well-meaning friend or family member’s good word often doesn’t have sufficiently strong effect due to the interpersonal dynamics and motivational mix not being absolutely right. So a different angle – and one that most people would never make a connection to – can do the trick! Not for nothing is February the month of purification!
Or why bother with new year’s resolutions?
And there’s another solution too: to never make new year’s resolutions! There’re also folks who never make them, because they don’t have to wait for the new year to resolve to do something they want to do. They just do it. Are you one of them? Or…
Do you need even more help
with spending the rest of your time on this planet to your fuller potential? I’m not the Light Bringer for nothing! The Light Bringer brings light to the dark corners of men’s lives and is always willing to help you shed light on the dark corners of your life. Let’s talk about it! And this article will also interest you. It’s closely related to the point of this article.
