End of January & Second-Shot Resolutions

It’s the end of January, so chances are your New Year’s resolutions have fallen through. And we’re not saying that because we don’t believe in you.

It’s just that experts estimate 80% of resolutions fail by February, so chances are a couple of your hopes for 2018 have been caught up in the early landslide of broken goals. (Was about to write “broken promises,” but that seemed too heavy.)

We’ll let you have a moment of defeat. But no longer.

BECAUSE, IT’S TIME TO GIVE YOUR RESOLUTIONS A SECOND SHOT

You are a real person living a real life, facing real challenges that can't be fixed by the end of some 45-minute TV episode. And just because our home planet has done a full lap around the sun, doesn’t mean we have to commit to becoming "better" people.

But if we’re being honest, we love healthy goal-setting and have been reading posts on resolutions like they’re a new age guilty pleasure pop song meant to replicate a guilty pleasure pop song from the 90s. Here’s a few takeaways we want to share to help you get re-inspired, re-motivation, and back on top of whatever it is you want to take on this year!

Be kind to yourself

Step One: take any resolutions that make you feel like you’re not enough, and toss it in the trash. Focus on what makes you feel energized, excited, fulfilled, and joyful. Starting from a place of positivity will make it easier to stay kind to yourself when you work towards your newly set or reset your goals.

Now that that’s out of the way, we can focus on Step Two: Know that failure will happen again. Slip ups, backtracks, and the odd hiatus is part of the process. Realizing this will save you a lot of negative self-lecturing. So what can you do? Make a backup plan to get back on track and keep at ‘er.

Fill up on the good, rather than cutting the bad

The internet is bursting at the seams with advice for cutting back on spending, saying no to sugar, and eliminating, reducing, detaching in one way or another. And it always seems like a drag.

So try adding more vegetables instead of refusing dessert, saying yes to a new activity rather than slogging it out at the same old gym you’ve been avoiding (but paying for) for months. Take in enough good stuff until it crowds out the bad.

The point is to make it something you want to do, rather suffering through a painful chore until it morphs into your new normal.

And if resolutions are really not your thing, know that...

Resolutions or not, we like you just fine

January 23, 2018 — Alys MacKenzie