It’s that time of year – as the New Year is welcomed – that many people attempt to keep a list of resolutions. The list entries are usually focused on giving things up or quitting various behaviours (smoking, drinking alcohol, swearing etc), all in the quest to make our lives more ‘perfect’. It’s as if we truly believe that if we lose weight, stop drinking alcohol etc. our lives will be so much better overnight. Our resolutions seem to promise that if we ‘make it’, life will all of a sudden be so much more magical and spectacular!
And it’s proven, more often than not, that we fail and give up on our resolutions within a few days of the New Year rolling in, and to be honest it’s hardly surprising.
December is usually the ‘biggest’ month of the year – parties, socialising, indulgence, late nights and holidays are at their peak. Our ‘bad habits’ are in their prime and even those with the best possible intentions let their hair down and have a great time with family and friends. So it’s not really surprising at all that we fail when we suddenly decide to go cold turkey on all of the good things in life!
We create a great list, eg:
1) Go to the gym every day (when we haven’t been for months)
2) Lose 20kg in 2 – 3 months (when we’ve been feeding our faces constantly for weeks on end, and have finished all the Christmas trimmings and polished off the party leftovers)
3) No alcohol for all of January (after bottles of champagne every night for a month – really?)
I’m sure you’re getting my drift…..
My advice is to work on long term strategies for these type of ‘serious’ New Year Resolutions, not quick fix solutions that are impossible to achieve and then leave you feeling miserable, and to focus on experiences, adventures and dreams, things that uplift you – more of a ‘bucket list’ eg:
1) Travel to Europe in 2014
2) Do a tandem parachute jump
3) Learn how to cook Thai
4) Take up photography
5) Eat frogs’ legs (not sure about this one but good to try different foods!)
Etc. etc.
They’re still great New Year’s Resolutions, but they are small challenges to try new things and the opportunity to take on new experiences and undertake exciting adventures. All are positive, uplifting items to aim for/strive for – enjoyable (I hope), rewarding and thrilling.
Then set another smaller list to tackle the big issues but taking a gradual journey – along similar lines to my blog on goals a couple of months ago, where you give yourself smaller ‘bite size’ steps to attain an overall ‘big’ goal or resolution in this case. And acknowledge and reward yourself along the way, to keep you motivated and inspired.
No matter what you decide to do, or how big you decide to set your resolutions, I hope that 2014 is your best year ever to date. And good luck with your resolutions, hopes, dreams and aspirations – let’s make it a year that counts in lots of great ways!! Happy New Year!!!