Every person has their own challenges.
I recently read an article on Aish.com about specific behaviors that make New Year’s resolutions effective. It said that we should set concrete goals rather than general, overly ambitious goals. We should expect challenges along the way, and we should realize that the motivation we may feel today might not be as strong tomorrow.
As I read this, I felt like I was finally able to describe an element of my high school experience. As the academic year’s end approaches, I look back and remember how anxious I sometimes used to feel while thinking about academics, athletics, extracurriculars and social life, in addition to the many other elements of being a high schooler.
When I felt overwhelmed in high school, it was almost always when I unknowingly was acting opposite this article’s recommendations. I had goals that were so broad and ambitious that achieving them was almost guaranteed to not happen and, as a result, knowing how and where to take action was nearly impossible as well.
But, campaigning to be a part of student government, for example, seemed interesting to me, and so I did that. Both of my brothers ran on the cross-country team, so I also ran throughout high school. My relationship with JARC began in seventh grade, so I always managed to find time to volunteer every month.
While none of these specific examples are anything particularly special on their own, the important point is that when I had reasonable goals with clear courses of action, the feelings of being overwhelmed lessened greatly, and I was able to accomplish more than I thought I could.
I believe that whether intentional or not, this article made an important point about making effective change. Whether it’s in your own life, your local community or even globally, if you want to fix everything all at once with no clear path to do so, it’s a recipe for failure and burnout. To make any sustainable change, you need to create a plan and take actions at an appropriate pace.
During the past four years, my responsibilities did not increase linearly, and if they did, it would not have been fair to myself. While it may sound cliche, I think that high school allowed me to experience this lesson firsthand, and reading this article allowed me to better articulate the idea that I was feeling.
This idea is very similar to the Talmudic phrase, “Tafasta Merube, Lo Tafasta,” which directly translates to, “If you have seized a lot, you have not seized.” This phrase is often interpreted to mean trying to do too much or having an overly ambitious goal often result in failure.
Every person has their own challenges. It’s likely that at least some of them can’t be solved easily or quickly. Although this is frustrating, the advice laid out in this article makes dealing with this reality slightly less troubling.
Reflecting back, I’m not actually sure that this article had any deeper meaning or was meant to be interpreted this intensely. But, in my opinion, the deeper lesson offered here is wasted if only used when considering how to improve one’s New Year’s resolutions.
Andy Tukel is a senior and all-school President at Frankel Jewish Academy.
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