Resolutions? Nah!

So this is the time when many people dust off their forgotten goals and desires, getting ready to plunge into the new year brimming with resolutions. I think it's absolutely fantastic to set goals and to aim for great things, whether it's quitting smoking or eating healthier. However, there are also good reasons why many resolutions fall by the wayside, only to get covered with dust (and guilt!) again. Maybe they weren't specific enough, or there were too many, maybe there wasn't a clear action plan to follow, or maybe it was something that willpower alone cannot tackle.

Many resolutions are phrased in a negative way - lose weight, stop this, stop that, quit this, cut out that, eliminate, give up, restrict - AGH! It's just not that appealing! And this kind of language doesn't motivate anyone. No matter what, it won't make you feel good about yourself in a healthy, genuine way. So I definitely don't like these kinds of resolutions.

Is there an alternative? Of course! It's always great to set goals and aim for the stars, while taking manageable baby steps to get there. For one thing, why not phrase resolutions in a positive, inspiring way? Why aim to lose ten pounds when you can instead aim to eat a varied, nutritious and delicious whole foods diet while also engaging in your favourite physical activity on most days. And you can make it more specific to suit your needs and make it super realistic and concrete rather than vague and mysterious. "I will go for a thirty minute walk every morning and cook vegetable soup twice a week" is way more stimulating than "I will break unhealthy habit #34".

Just think of what inspires you, stirs your passions, makes you feel better and healthier, what you daydream about, what you look forward to, what makes you happy, etc, etc, etc. and aim to integrate more of this into your day to day life.

One of my goals will definitely be to read more fiction books, it's something that I absolutely love but haven't been doing nearly enough of since graduating from university. Non-fiction is wonderfully informative and important, but fiction (especially Victorian fiction :) ) stirs the soul :)