New Year’s Resolutions

I don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions. I think January is a difficult enough time without depriving yourself of something you enjoy (which is generally what resolutions amount to).

New Year's Resolutions

I mean, I’ve just enjoyed 10 days off work eating and drinking and making merry and now it’s January, it’s cold and dark, all the fun bits have gone and there’s nothing to look forward to until Spring. Why would I make that worse by not having a biscuit or a glass of wine? (I’ve had neither today, yet).

I also don’t see the point in setting goals that you know you might fail at, which will then just make you feel crap for being rubbish. Again, why?

Cutting things out can’t lead to anything good. I did dry January once and the first time I had a drink at the end of it I was pissed and asleep on my friend’s sofa within about an hour.

And just the word – resolution – it sounds so harsh and severe!

Having said that, after all the indulgence of the festive period, I am usually pretty ready to start eating more healthily and generally not being as much of a glutton. And I certainly need to lose a few pounds which steadily crept on last year, because I threw caution to the wind from about October onwards!

I do have some “good intentions” which are more around personal experience and comfort than changing myself, but they’re evolutionary processes rather than new starts. Such as cutting down the amount of clothes I own (which I’ve been doing for about, oh I dunno, 5 years now). Wasting less time on mindless stuff on my phone when I could be reading a book (I had some corkers for Christmas). Things that are achievable and can be done bit by bit instead of being a major life change.

And if I do need to do something huge, or cut something out, or do something new, then I’ll do it quietly and in my own way and time, rather than making a big public declaration and then falling on my ass when I fail (notice I say when, not if!)

Today’s achievement – getting out of bed, getting to work on time and surviving the day. That’s harder than eating less than 1500 calories, not having a glass of wine or avoiding the biscuit tin for sure!

Have you made any NewYear’s resolutions?

Thanks, as always, for reading!