Instead of Resolutions, Themes
My approach to a new year
I messaged two of my friends last week stating that “goals” make me irritable. Possibly because of my abysmal track record of meeting them. It’s also entirely possible that the goals I’ve set in the past are not well structured — too lofty, broad, etc. Regardless, I’m not in for another year of setting a target and missing. What I AM here for is this:
There are a number of things in my life that are making me borderline miserable (not in an existential way, more day-to-day annoyance). Many of those things I can do something about. I’ve categorized those things into general themes and my approach will be to keep those themes top of mind and as I go about my days, and then consider if what I am doing (or not doing) is helping me make progress on those themes. That’s mostly it.
I may also schedule time to actually go after some of those themes, but not with a “lose 20 pounds by the end of June” or “improve strength by 20%” or “declutter the entire house by March” vibe. As much as I’d love to have the house decluttered by March, I know I’ll have more success by keeping this theme in mind and plugging away at it when the mood strikes. For this particular theme, I recognize that I am easily overwhelmed. I ran across the “plan” below and may give it a go, with modifications. For me, some of these “days” will take 15 minutes and some will take a week, and others, like photos, could take all year (some categories don’t apply at all — my playroom days are over 😉). I’ll be ignoring the “Day” part and tackling it more like Bingo. When I have 20 minutes or an hour free, I’ll probably just choose something from the grid and work on that area until I run out of time, then repeat.
Another piece of the declutter theme for me is keeping it in mind whenever I’m about to buy something. My aim is to keep only things that are useful/necessary or things that I love. In light of that, I can ask myself if what I’m about to buy meets those requirements. If not, I’ll move on. Hopefully, this will help me not add more clutter while I’m working to declutter. And saving money is always a win.
The beauty of heading into a new year is that we’re all able to do it however we want. Some prefer to keep rolling without a lot of planning and hoopla. Others are very serious about their S.M.A.R.T. goals and their spreadsheets. Do what works for you and remember that not doing what works for you is a recipe for frustration.
Happy New Year! Thanks so much for being here this year.
xo,
Beth
