I talked about this a bit in last week’s post, but in a nutshell, they don’t really work for me. I do a lot better with just trying to do something for a day or an hour than making a resolution for a whole year. It’s really hard for me to stick with things, and generally as soon as I make a firm commitment to anything it starts to feel heavy and pressurey and I don’t want to do it anymore. I’m the same way with TBRs.
Now, that’s not to say I think they’re inherently bad. They work for some people, and motivate others. I have a lot of admiration for anyone who is able to stick to and work at their goals. I’m just not one of them. So I don’t really make resolutions anymore, and I don’t wait until New Year to try to work on things, I tend to work on things whenever motivation strikes, and just view New Year’s Day as one more day in the year.
What about you guys? Do resolutions work for you? If so, have you set any for yourself this year?
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I am right there with you: nothing against resolutions, but I don’t see much point to tying them to New Year’s Day in particular. I’d rather just work on things when I feel like I need to work on things.
Yes, quite. I mean I think when you’re younger and haven’t had as much practice with goal setting and working towards long-term changes (not that I’m any expert in the area even now, but at least I know how hard it is and how important it is to break it down into smaller goals and allow for backstepping) it can be useful to have a motivating point to start from. And if you turn out to be a highly self-disciplined person, you’ll find that out and can expand from there. But if you’re just not one of those people, it’s mostly setting up failure, and better to just work on things on a continual basis and push harder when you’ve got it in you!
Hi! I LOVE to set goals and plans but not resolutions! I also feel that it is OK to start anytime! And if I make a mistake, I just start again!
See that’s the thing. The reality of inevitable failure at some point without it negating the entire goal. That’s the key, I think. Like a goal that’s a few days a week so you have breaks or a plan to try to accomplish something but also to keep trying if it doesn’t go perfectly smoothly. Because let’s face it, most of us are going to have more of an up and down trajectory towards any goal than a straight ascent! I think that’s a healthy approach!
I’m with you. It’s the pressure that tends to get me. You convince yourself that you’re going to make it through the whole year, committed to whichever resolution you’ve made, and then you fall… (sometimes on the 2nd of January), and you’re left with the crushing disappointment of knowing you’ve failed. I like your way better!
Yes! I guess if I were to say I’ll *try* to do something then there’s allowances built in for some backslides, but then it also doesn’t really feel like a resolution either. So mostly it’s a today I’m going to try not to eat chocolate for lunch kind of situation, and then I can always try again tomorrow! Ha!
That makes sense. 🙂
I wish I were one of those people who could confidently proclaim, on January 1st, that I won’t touch refined sugar for a calendar year and then follow through, but unfortunately I’m the type who would be eating Oreos by lunch time and then spend the next 364.5 days feeling like a failure! Ah well, maybe one day!