Why place emphasis on goals at this time? Like everything else this is primarily a societal norm/construct. We use the Gregorian calendar (used by 168 countries around the world) and it places New Years Day as January 1. Fun fact, the Gregorian calendar is also called the Christian calendar, hence the ties to christian holidays as our official days off (so much for separation of church and state!)In the Gregorian calendar this time of year has often been associated with rebirth, creating resolutions (historically more tied to being better christians, than tied to bettering yourself as a whole), celebration and in some instances parades.
Taking a moment, how do you feel about New Years resolutions in general? Is it something you look forward to? If so, what aspects do you find enjoyable? Or do you feel pressure to set goals and feel like you're already letting yourself down because goals are hard to follow through on? If you fall into the latter category, why are you choosing to put pressure on yourself, only to feel like you've failed a month or two later? Do you tend to complete goals or do you set a bunch and never fully complete them? How does that impact you?
This month can be really hard mentally and emotionally for a lot of people - the weight loss movement is full force and strong, family of origin traumas are up after the holidays, seasonal depression might be setting in, all of these combine for extra stress. Instead of trying to set goals because you "should", take a moment to check in with yourself and ask what will help me decompress and take the stress down a few notches?
