How To Write New Year's Resolutions

There is a simple answer to this. Don't write them. I never, ever write New Year resolutions in January. Why? Because it's a brand new year and with that comes a sense of a fresh start, a chance to start again, a chance to change, be different, be better. Some would argue that is the perfect time to start again but in the flurry of all that newness and excitement I get carried away and set goals bigger than I can achieve.


On the 1st of January I want the world. I'm fresh out of the cocoon of Christmas and raring for change. I look around at all that motivation, the clean, unwritten diary pages and my head spins and whirls with the person I could be. I forget how hard I've worked throughout the last year. I forget that I kept myself alive and well and that I did my best to keep my mental health in check. I gloss over the fact that I kept my daughter healthy, fed and clean. I ignore that I worked hard on my relationship, my home and my work. That I survived personal challenges and heartbreak beyond what I could imagine. January isn't a depressing month because of money, the cold weather or the dark nights. It's depressing because it's filled with the promise of a brand new you.

It's taken me many years to identify why I find January so difficult. I didn't realise just how bad looking forward could make you feel. Filling myself with ideas and wishes and forgetting the strength, bravery and achievements of the year just passed. There is nothing wrong with reaching for more and embracing the chance to change but for me it always means too much pressure and an inevitable blow to my self esteem.

There is one change I am willing to make though. Maybe we turn January Resolutions into January Reflections. A New Year spent looking back at all what we can and have accomplished alongside our plans for the new year. The chance to celebrate our 'old selves' sound infinitely more inviting to me...

Thanks for reading,