New Year’s Day is the ultimate new beginning. It’s a chance to leave behind the habits of the old year and start afresh. But as the years roll on, you start to notice that resolutions become a bit repetitive. Lose weight, go to the gym, give up smoking, drink less. We’ve heard them all before.
Making the same resolutions every year means that we’re not accomplishing them. Make 2018 the year that you buck the trend by setting yourself quirkier, more imaginative, resolutions.
Make Positive Resolutions
Resolutions that focus on negative behaviour or bad habits put you into a gloomy mindset. This sets you up to fail. You’re more likely to stick to something if it’s positive and fun.
Concentrate on expanding your horizons and acquiring new skills, rather than obsessing about your flaws. Use your resolutions as an opportunity to push your comfort bounds and to do something out of the ordinary. That way you’ll enjoy doing them and talking about them with others.
Add a Quirky New Twist
Boring goals get forgotten or pushed aside, so choose something a bit different. What about:
- Buying a recipe book and cooking something new every Friday night
- Exploring regions of the UK that you’ve never been to before
- Getting involved in a charity event, especially if it involves a costume or a stunt event
- Going on a social media blackout
- Entering into a physical endurance event
- Reading a book per week
- Redecorating a room in your house entirely by yourself, including making or upcycling furniture
- Going on a wellness retreat
- Swapping your smartphone for a more basic model
- Researching your family tree by asking family members for information. Ancestry websites and DNA testing can be fun, but they can’t tell you the stories behind your bloodline
- Seeking out exotic foods
- Beginning a vegetable patch and cooking a meal for all your friends using only the produce
- Learning a new language and planning a trip to a country that speaks it
- Model for a life drawing class
- Performing your favourite song for your friends
- Eating vegan food once a week
These are just some examples of the type of resolutions you could set yourself on. Get your creative cap on and think about what you want out of 2018.
Set a Timed Goal
Common reasons for allowing resolutions to fall by the wayside is that there’s no structure to them. Set yourself some milestones in addition to your overarching aim. This will give you a way to track your progress.
Also, don’t fall into the trap of being overly ambitious in your endeavours. Remember, it’s a new year and a new you…but you’re still human!
We’d love to hear about what you’re going to challenge yourself to do in 2018. Drop us a line on social media and tell us all about it.