On the second day of the new year in a new decade, we can still talk about resolutions, right? Over the years, I have taken a variety of approaches on resolutions, some with success, some without and I’m guessing that I’m not the only one.
There are plenty of depressing statistics out there about how many people don’t actually achieve their resolutions. And I choose to ignore this information because I love the idea of a reset at the beginning of a new year.
However while I am a big advocate of resolutions, I’m also going to admit that I find the first of January to be a slightly arbitrary starting point.
For me, when I’m ready to start (or stop) something, I don’t need a new year to help me along. I can generally make the decision to do it, however I do appreciate that this isn’t an approach that works for everyone. Which is why the start of a new year can be really helpful in making changes.
What has helped me immensely with resolutions and other goals is understanding how I hold myself and let others hold me accountable. And once again, I will cite Gretchen Rubin and her quiz, which determines and explains your accountability personality and just might help you get the best start to 2020. She also has ideas on how each of the four types can successfully achieve their resolutions. I’m an Upholder according to the quiz, in case you were wondering.
In terms of my resolutions, over the past couple of years, I’ve had long lists at the start of each year and ultimately I found them to be a bit overwhelming and frustrating that I didn’t accomplish everything on them. My approach for 2020 is to pare it way back and focus on actions I’ve been meaning to do, but haven’t achieved.
This year my list includes trying two new recipes per month because I love the recipes I have, but I also love cookbooks and recipe websites. I need to stop collecting and start actually using my resources. I want to learn to do a proper push-up, instead of faking it through my workouts. And I plan to get my digital photos organised.
And this is what I really enjoy about goal setting I often find that once you give it life, the answers seem to come to you. Just a couple days after adding photo sorting to my list, I saw a podcast that offered advice on just this topic! So I’ve gone from not being totally clear on what I need to do, to having a strong starting point. Which always makes a resolution seem more achievable.
What’s your approach to resolutions? What works and what doesn’t?