I’m not one to make resolutions, since I know that I likely won’t follow them. If someone wanted to make drastic changes to their life, why wait for some arbitrary date, and for some arbitrary time? To want to change your habits, there’s no time like the present. Well, today turns out to be the second day of the new year, and I’m nevertheless willing to give it a try this year.
First off, I think that how you decide on a New Year’s Resolution is somewhat important. For a vague, nebulous goal like “going to the gym” when you haven’t done any exercise in the prior year, it seems a little ambitious. When you want to decide on what change you want to make to your life in a new year, it’s better to choose something that’s not completely orthogonal to your current lifestyle. Someone who casually exercises might find luck in making a resolution to go to the gym more, but someone who had never gone before might want to make a more reasonable resolution, such as exercising at least once a week.
Whatever type of resolution you made, it’s likely a permanent lifestyle change you want to make and stick with for not only 2022, but for the foreseeable future. When people diet and place strenuous constraints on themselves, there’s no motivation to continue doing it when one’s weight / fitness goals are met, and they might find themselves back where they started despite all the effort they exerted at that time. New Year’s Resolutions are the same. For example, there are things I want to do like get good at drawing, or learn to play instruments, but I wouldn’t want to make a resolution out of it because I’m not in a place where I’d actively invest time pursuing it. Otherwise, I probably would have started earlier, right? Instead, the resolution I’ve set for myself is something that I’ve had a recent budding interest in and I’m looking to expand my horizons. My resolution for 2022 is to cook one new dish every week of the year.
I’ve expressed my frustrations about my lack of cooking ability in a post from two years ago, I Suck at Cooking. However, within the past few months I’ve invested more time in the kitchen. With the wind at my back, my goal is to be more intentional in this new-found interest and learn a variety of different skills within these next 52 weeks. The objective is clear, the rewards are tangible, and the results are immediately fulfilling. I can eat what I make, cook delicious food for others, invite people over for dinners or use cooking as an excuse to spend time with friends, and save money along the way. Wish me luck in 2022.
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