RESO’ REDO

It’s time to rethink the resolutions, people.

January is almost over, so by now – if you’re a resolutions person – you’ve either stuck to or abandoned the golden rules you set for yourself as we swung round that blessed corner into 2022.

Maybe you’re feeling accomplished, or maybe you’re wallowing in guilt and/or despair that the year you had planned isn’t going as planned. We’re somewhere in between: stuck to the yoga (so far, so good) and cleared a bit off the plate, but the meaningless screen time hours have been slowly creeping back up. So, here is some pondering on the whole ‘new year, new me’: partly to ward off our own spiralling – ALL THAT WE HAVE TO GET DONE won’t get done and ALL THAT WE HAVE TO BE won’t be – and partly to serve up a steaming plate of ‘(most) resolutions are stupid’ to anyone that needs to hear it.

Let’s get off on the right foot.
A good old reso’ isn’t the worst thing for you.
Personal betterment, yada, yada, yada.

Making more time for fun, sticking to deadlines, less screen time (just really drilling it in) and a dedication to seeing your savings account increase that little bit higher never hurt anyone. We’re conditioned to a nice, tidy, formal start – to our day, week, month, year. Scientifically speaking, it’s easier to lay off the booze for a full week if you start on a Monday; and it’s easier to stick to a ‘new you’ on the 1st of January than, say, the 17th of August.

It’s the overwhelming and spiral-cueing sense of failure that comes with not meeting your shiny, brand-spanking-new resolutions that we take issue with. Maybe they were overly optimistic, or maybe expecting drastic change – to routine, output, habits – is unrealistic. Destined for failure.

The beautiful, hopeful, sunshine-hued optimism at the start of a new year is exactly that: beautiful. But hold up a sec before you start writing off the year (or the month, week or even day) and consider whether you were blinded by that sunshine.

Avoid goals that sit in absolutism: absolutely no alcohol. Absolutely flogging yourself daily at a 6am HIIT-style torture session. Absolutely nailing every aspect of your job.

We want resolutions like no longer hanging out with people who don’t make you feel good. Making your bed most mornings. Consciously supporting small businesses. Being more involved in your community. Regularly donating to your charity of choice. Asking your good-lookin’ barista out on a date. Learning to surf. Easing up on the automatic ‘sorry’s. Giving adult jazz classes a whirl. Organising to sit down with your boss to explore growth opportunities. Communicating what you want. Skinny dipping!

Basically, this is just a little reminder that all good things take time, to not hold yourself to unreachable expectations, and to remember that we are all on different schedules. The work slog looks different to everyone, and if you keep plugging away at those goals – however tiny each step may be – you will get there.