So it’s already the second week of January, and I remain resolution-less.
I could be making a list and I know all the usual suspects: write more, read more, eat healthy food, drink lots of water. The exercise component has shifted to yoga and floor exercises since I can’t do walking/skiing/line dancing now. Turns out my hip has severe osteoarthritis. I’d really like a new hip but time will tell.
Since I started this blog, I’ve had various approaches to the New Year’s Resolution:
- In the beginning, 2012, I simply listed my resolutions and hoped for the best. New Year’s Resolutions.
- In 2013, I talked about what Smart Goals are, and I made an “Un-Resolution List”.
- For 2014, it was Setting Intentions.
- And then in 2015, although it was not specifically about Resolutions, I looked up the Stages of Exercise.
- I listed some . . . things to do in the New Year . . . for 2016. It was a pretty laissez-faire approach but it seemed to work as well as anything specific.
- The next year, I think I gave up.
- By 2018, I had found A different take on Goal Setting which is to simply not talk about it. The idea is that by stating your goal to the world, you actually decrease your chances of achieving it. The STATING gives you all kinds of approbation before you actually do anything. So, go ahead and make that goal, but don’t announce it. Not until you’ve achieved it.
This year, I’ve found a new approach. Instead of simply making that list, you talk to yourself about what you’d like to do in this new year. Then answer yourself at a later date. At that time, you might get a nudge from your Future Self to try again, or, you might see progress. Often we do make progress, but we don’t notice it because the progression is glacially slow.
Incidentally, my school of nursing motto was Persistent in Progress.
Hamilton and District School of Nursing crest
One way to talk to yourself is to journal.
That’s an ongoing thing and sometimes we don’t take the time to go back and see what we wrote. The progress, if there is any, does not stand out.
Another way to talk to yourself is to write yourself a letter.
And have it delivered to you next January. Or maybe on June 30 at that halfway point of the year. Or maybe even on this date next month.
Of course, there is an app for this. It’s called future me.
You can sign up for free. There’s also a premium option for $3 per year if you don’t want to see ads.
I think I wrote a letter to Me sometime in December. I’m pretty sure I scheduled it to send sometime in January. I wonder what I will be telling Me?
Are you a resolution maker? Do you start off with new optimism each January? Or, do you prefer to remain resolution-less? Do you think a letter from You to You might be motivating, reassuring or even slightly interesting? Will you give it a try?
little girl writing a letter to her future self from Depositphotos #59092059
I like it!!!
I’m going to try this.
I’ll send it to myself so it arrives a month from now.
Happy New Year!!!
Happy New Year to you!
I’ve been looking for a new approach to new years resolutions too and came across another similar idea to yours. Instead of setting out what you’re going to do the coming year, set a one word parameter for HOW you’re going to go about doing things over the coming year. I found the germ of the idea on YouTube with the LetsMakeArt channel. You create a page that says This is the year of ………… You decide what word you will put in the blank to guide everything you do in the coming year- joy, patience, growth, …mine will be INTENT, (a combination of focus and mindfulness) in an effort to regain some of the control I’ve lost in my life which has left me spinning in chaos with little forward motion. Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/oynWGIE0XqM
My word will be DECLUTTER!
Happy New Year!
My word is pretty much about decluttering, but I said “SIMPLIFY”…I’m cutting out a lot of things that no longer bring me joy, which includes getting rid of clutter.
I like your word, Tammy. 🙂
I think I’ll switch to SIMPLIFY as well. It applies to everything, not just the clutter.
Happy New Year and here’s to finding things that “spark Joy”.
Cool idea, Suzanne. Thanks.
Thanks! Happy New Year! 🙂
Here I am, just over a week in the new year, and I am swamped with tasks and lists and obligations. I do wish that I had spend that quiet time at the very beginning of the year to reflect on what is important to me. Its that old conflict between urgent and important.
I like the idea of adopting the word SIMPLIFY but instead I want to think of a word that means quit trying to do too much. INTENT would also be good but I think I have landed on MINDFUL.
Yes, I know, the Urgent vs. Important stuff. It seems like it’s all urgent and all important.
I have a note on my wall that says “Habit, not discipline”.
So now, the trick is to turn something into a habit, a mindless habit that I do every day at the same time… Maybe I’ll list the top 3 urgent and important things to do each morning with my tea.
Good luck and happy new year!
so this has been just like a letter to the future me. What was that word again I chose for this year. Oh, yes, mindful.
Things have really slowed down for me here in the Dominican Republic. Nothing urgent to do. Just the important things left. I need to be mindful about even when tasks are urgent they are important. Working on my how to edit notes. Hope to make progress every second day. Wish me luck.
Wow! To be left with only the Important Things!
I imagine the Dominican Republic is a great place to do edits. And that’s a great plan – to schedule every second day. Good for YOU!
Fun ideas on how to approach ‘new year’ planning. I think what-ever works is the best!
For my own organizing, I am using Marie Kondo’s approach and just keeping what brings me Joy.
For my planning, I love this little iPhone app called Clear. Fun and effective.
Hi Rosanne!
I may need to schedule some Marie Kondo time. Turns out that simply buying the books does make the clutter go away. Who knew?
I don’t have an iPhone but I have just downloaded an android app called Trello. I’ll be sure to play with it at tea time only because I’m pretty sure I can get lost creating lists.
Happy New Year!