Here's why we should learn to love the difficult journey.

Let’s not beat about the bush. The year 2020 was a truly shit one. Like, a proper festival of crap. All aboard the bus to existential purgatory. Guess who’s coming round for dinner tonight? Nobody. Obvs. It was not a happy ride.

For many, the impact of the pandemic (I’ll avoid the C-word, for my own sanity) has ranged from severe inconvenience to full-scale tragedy.

But when has an easy, comfortable ride in life ever been that useful? In terms of searching for something deeper. An intrinsic drive or feeling of connectedness. A deeper sense of meaning and purpose.

Whilst our society is again on the rampage with setting goals for January and the year ahead, it got me thinking. Rather, something ‘clicked’. 

. . .

The journey through the angst, the anger, the resentment and depression of 2020 has taught me more than any New Year’s resolution has before.

Let me explain why, and why I believe there’s much more to be learned from this, as opposed to yet another goal for January. 

It’s a case of embracing the real journey - and the deeper sense of emancipation it can bring. 

A common problem with New Years resolutions is that they are capped and not *actually* well considered. They can be short term, and often based on vague aspirations or simply what others are doing. Stocking fillers.

New Year, New Me. 

Get Fit in 4 Weeks. 

Summer bodies are made in the winter. 

Veganuary. 

Dry January. 

All that bullshit. 

. . .

As the years roll by, setting goals in January has become a decreasing focus of interest, personally. But I absolutely get why many do. All power to you. Genuinely.

Why? In part due to a natural level of contrariness, and partly because they evidently don’t work. In the sense that most people don’t stick to resolutions after 30 days, never mind a year. They simply become transient, socially-pressured annual micro-events.

Using the weight loss focussed, ‘Fit in 4 Weeks’, type of thinking as an example. The percentage of adults in the UK that are overweight or obese has remained at 64% for the last 15 years. Since 1993, this number has only ever increased. 

Perhaps there is a sense of reward and reinforcement that stems from the novelty of trying something new. The argument here, though, is that it seldom translates into meaningful, long-term change. 

Like watching an animal through a glass window at the zoo, it’s always had me thinking about why we behave the way we do. And, questioning why there’s a relentless celebration of goals, progression and success.

The deeper value of the journey has long been eclipsed by the caffeine-like high of achieving a short-term goal. The prospect of, at least.

. . .

How a worldwide pandemic and New Years resolutions are linked might still seem a way off. Stick with me, here.

Based on speaking with many people during 2020 about their health and wellbeing, it’s clear that our hand has been forced.

Most of us, if not all, have been thrust into a circumstance where we really have no option but to question things. Like being boxed in a metaphorical padded room, you’re left to your own thoughts, with very limited space for venting or distraction.

And, unsurprisingly, our collective mental health plummeted. Even by the summer time, twice as many people would describe their mental state as ‘very bad’ compared to pre-pandemic times, with half as many saying ‘good’.

It doesn’t take a survey to see where people’s mental states are now. As we continue the grind of lockdown life and everything this conjures up. 

. . .

Being in a shit place doesn’t mean you don’t learn things. Exactly the opposite, in fact.

Think back to your pre-pandemic life, and how you now compare. Through the journey, you’ve probably learned a lot about yourself and others around you. Thoughts, desires, drive, commitment, patience. And so on. 

How much do you truly value your close relationships, now? How much more have you learned about your true, authentic self? How much have you explored your own flexibility in your work routine? How much have you thought about your mental health? How kind do you feel towards others?

We’re taught to set goals from a very young age. Studying for exams in school, is one that comes to mind. Does the ‘need’ for goals stem from here? Is it simply a thought-habit formed in those early years?

It’s clear that we bring this mentality with us into our working lives, where we may set ourselves and our peers annual goals to ultimately determine if we are ‘successful’, or not. A gripe for another day, perhaps, but summarised concisely; fuck that!

. . .

This all aside. Everyone needs something to smile about right now. And perhaps setting a goal will help to do this.

However, whilst distractions and opportunities to fill our lives with all the usual noise is at an all-time low, let’s use this opportunity to delve deeper.

Instead of using New Years resolutions as an attempt to cover up the sense of meaninglessness of January, following the emotional hangover of a highly pressured, heavily traditionalised festive season, why not immerse yourself further into the abyss and see what you can *really* learn about your internal monologue. Just like what 2020 forced many of us do.

Goals aren’t pointless. However, in my experience and in many others’ I’ve worked with, the harder journey is the more enlightening one to take. 

Yes, 2020 was, and continues to be in 2021, a truly uncomfortable ride. However, consider where that journey has now led you.

Scrap the goals, forget the tradition, forget New Year, New Me. Just be authentically you. Use it to tune into your internal train of thought, step outside of yourself, learn how to *really* be compassionate to yourself and others. 

Pack your bag and savour the ride up shit creek to your own metaphorical padded cell. You might be pleasantly surprised as to what that journey will teach you!

More than any New Years resolution will, anyway.

. . .

Dan Craig