Every year I tend to make a long, unrealistic set of resolutions that never quite work out and lead to an inevitable sense of deep disappointment. Sound familiar? Or is it just me who is incapable?
This year, I initially made some resolutions on a Word document. But later that day I opened the lid of my laptop, saw it on the screen, and without thinking about it clicked ‘don’t save’. I realised that resolutions, personally, set myself up to fail and lead to unnecessary demotivation. Which is the total opposite of my aim! So, this year, I’m setting some general goals that are less demanding.
…Is there even a difference between a resolution and a goal?
I think there definitely is!
To me, a ‘resolution’ seems like something you have to be consistent with every single day. It feels like the kind of thing that if you don’t do just once, you may as well give up there and then because you’ve ruined the ongoing streak of it all. So, if I set a resolution to ‘eat healthier’, and then I had a day of junk, carbs and chocolate, I would see it as breaking the resolution and would probably just forget about it from that point. Whereas, a goal seems a bit more lenient. It feels like something you work towards gradually, with less strict guidelines surrounding it all. Some of my goals this year include: walking without purpose more often, to pick up a book instead of switching on the tv as often as possible, and to limit myself to only 3 cups of tea or coffee a day. These are pretty basic ones that I think would make a big difference to me mentally in the long run!
I also want to pay more attention to things going on around me. I so often find myself in a whirlwind, or glued to my phone screen, that I don’t really listen to what people are saying to me, or I don’t really see the small but wonderful things happening before my very eyes. Small things like finding my dog looking as cosy as this in the morning, or my niece stealing my dessert and eating it all to herself.
Both of these are tiny things that made me smile today that I wouldn’t have noticed if I didn’t take the time to actually be in the moment.
In terms of larger goals, I mainly want to pick up blogging again and take more time out for writing generally. It’s become something I associate myself with and ‘talk the talk’ but have recently been failing to ‘walk the walk’. Becoming a student blogger at University highlighted this for me; I started writing posts because I knew I had to, but in the meantime realised how much I had missed this kind of thing. The same goes for things like spoken word, poetry, and drawing- I don’t realise I miss them until I do them again… but if I never actually do it then they slowly slip away from me. Not this time!
…And what’s the first move?
The first move for me, begrudgingly, needs to be waking up earlier. I’ve grown to love a good lie-in recently (mainly because I stay up so late talking to flatmates or watching Netflix) but I want to stop wasting half of my day so often.
I’m also aware that I am a lot more productive and in a better headspace if I wake up earlier and start my day right. Afternoon naps are always an option after all! I’m not entirely sure how feasible this waking up early plan is, especially with a university lifestyle, but it doesn’t need to be early… it just needs to be a more normal time. I think 9am is prime.
I think that wraps up my first post of 2019, and hopefully I will be posting a lot more regularly again from here forth.
Happy New Year!
Ellie-Paige x
ElliePaigeAndre 