Resolutions: Stop Resolving To Start Doing Things

January can be a good time to post-festively cleanse but make sure you’re committing to new habits in 2016 for the right reasons.

It’s not a secret I’m not a huge fan of resolutions on 1st January. And by now, so-called Blue Monday, perhaps you’ve already strayed. It’s a behaviour which needs a little more examining before blatantly sailing along with the tradition of making them. But I strongly believe, before you declare these so-called resolutions to yourself, the internet or wherever, you need to ask yourself why you are making them.

We all have ideals of what life should be like. And it is good to grab change by the horns and pull it towards you. Get things done. But don’t burn out. Don’t look at what your ideal life would look like and spread yourself miserably thin trying to get there.

I found a new trick for making resolutions. Look back and agree what worked in the last months, analyse why you think why it worked and then figure out how you can do more of what worked. Place on top of that list the things you absolutely ENJOYED doing which were a success.

For example, I looked back on my year and felt I had achieved far less than other years. But while I was focussing on my lowly bank balance, I forgot how I had pushed myself along a creative path I feared to tread, writing more frequently, easily with compliments back about my work.

Plus I spent time with my youngest child before starting school, it’s a cliche but you don’t get that time back. The kids are only young for a fraction of your life together. Soon they’ll be teenagers and putting some distance between your social life and theirs.

If you have broken a resolution or two this month, remember, it’s far too easy to focus on negatives. Rather than put all your energy into changing those, identify the mini-successes and put some zest into doing more things which worked rather than go to war with things that didn’t.