The Anti-New Year’s Resolution Revolution
[GETS ON SOAP BOX]
We’ve all seen it, we’ve all lived it. A new year means New Year’s resolutions. It’s the time of year where you try to trick yourself into thinking you’re someone else. You might tell yourself, “Come the 1st of January, I’m buying that gym membership and I’m going to wake up at 6 AM every morning, workout 5 days a week, eat healthy, cut out alcohol, lose 10 pounds, and marry a fucking Prince!”
Then you wake up January 1st at 10 AM, violently hungover, and the only thing that will make you feel better is ordering [insert hangover cure] and sitting in bed binging Love Island. New year new you, right?! SYYYKE.
What’s wrong with you?
I’m just curious, what’s so wrong with the current you?
Ever think that you could be exactly where you need to be in this very moment? Now, this isn’t a justification for complacency. Think of this more of a surrendering. A moment of appreciation and grace for exactly who you are right now.
For me, New Year’s resolutions have always been a big fat failure—often resulting in a good ol’ shame spiral leaving me in a condition perhaps worse than I started. Not an ideal strategy for self improvement. It’s easy (and fun) to fantasize about this ideal version of yourself and dream up a new life to start living cold turkey. And sure, you can white knuckle your way through a couple weeks, or even months, but more often than not, you find yourself right back where you began…or if you’re like me, worse than before.
So how can you make this year different? How can you turn this recipe for failure into positive habits for sustainable success? First thing, I invite you to try and find it within yourself to accept exactly who you are at this very moment in your life. Even if you’re not very happy with this version of yourself, find one piece of gratitude for yourself in this moment of your life. It could be as simple as being grateful for just still being here, living and breathing on this earth.
Start small.
The trick to creating lasting change is to start small, and from within. We often set these unattainable New Year’s resolutions as a carrot of hope to change our circumstances, yet we fail to realize we’re neglecting the work of how we see and talk to ourselves internally. I say “we” because I’m right there with you.
If you’re anything like me, you may have some broken trust within yourself that needs gentle nurturing. Rather than set ourselves up for that self flagellation after straying from our new, unrealistic lifestyle goals, work to rebuild that trust within yourself.
Pick 1 thing.
If you have an end goal in mind, work backwards. Focus on 1 new practice or action each week to start getting yourself there. And set the bar low. The more we prove to ourselves we can accomplish that 1 thing we set out to do, the more we can trust ourselves. We might even start to encourage ourselves with kind words. We might even start to see ourselves in a more positive light. We might even start to become that version of ourselves that has always existed, but we’ve never quite been able to see.
As we embrace this new year, I invite you to allow yourself to be. Allow yourself to see your imperfections as your beauty. Allow yourself to trust that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. And trust yourself that you can start small to allow your inner light to shine fucking bright.
So, screw your New Year’s resolution. Join the Anti-Resolution Revolution!
If you need support to reach your goals next year, I got you. Get it touch below for a free coaching consultation.
