Realistic New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year! I’m really excited to ring in the New Year to 2019 and to welcome you back to my blog with some realistic New Year’s Resolutions ideas for you.

I’m 36 years old and I’m pretty sure I’ve failed far more New Year’s resolutions than I’ve stuck to. Mostly because when I make a New Year’s Resolution, I tend to go a bit overboard. I swear to forego all sugar and lose a ton of weight. I set myself to a new exercise regime that has me in agony by day two. I promise to cut out all the booze and everything that’s bad for me, remake my wardrobe, rewire my thinking and basically go from 0 to 100 on January 1st and then feel like a failure by the end of the week.

This is not only unrealistic for me, but it sets a tremendous amount of pressure on myself. I’m not good under pressure and I usually crack in a spectacular way that involves tears, a domino’s pizza and two pints of Haagen Daaz.

A few years ago statistics suggested that up to 80% of New Year’s Resolutions were abandoned by February so I know I’m not alone in feeling that I haven’t been successful in the past.

Realistic and Inspiring New Year’s Resolutions

Now I realize that New Year’s Resolutions need to be

1. Obtainable and realistic
2. Inspiring and positive
3. Something that fits in with my existing lifestyle or can be done gradually – not a drastic change
4. Have goals that are measurable in small chunks so I can see my progress
5. At least a little bit fun and enjoyable or interesting – definitely not torture!

Here are my ideas for realistic and obtainable – yet still inspiring – New Year’s resolutions that can still make a difference to your life and the lives of those around you

Get Fitter

This year I pledge to get fitter. Not to lose a specific amount of weight or complete a specific exercise goal, but to work on my fitness every day in some way. To make good food choices where I can and to try and get out of the house and exercise. I will measure my goal against the previous month and whether I feel better about my personal fitness and progress. I definitely won’t be comparing myself to other people!

Save The World

I’m not going to pledge to go zero plastic and fully green for my New Year’s Resolution as I don’t think that’s obtainable for me right now. I will still use wet wipes and disposable nappies, but I am pledging to make small changes that cut down on my waste and increase my recycling because being more environmentally friendly is really important to me.

Meet New People

I have a very small social circle and have a tendency to get stuck in a rut. This year I promise to meet some new people with hobbies that match mine. I don’t know if I’ll make a new best friend and I’m certainly not a social butterfly so I’m not going to force myself to go out every week. But I am going to try to do one social thing a month that involves meeting some new people and make an effort to actually talk to those people rather than sitting in the corner hugging my glass of wine and wondering if anyone will come up and talk to me.

I’m making “Proactive” my word for 2019!

Reduce Stress

My stress levels are through the roof. I’m pretty sure if you could measure it, I’d be winning an award. I’m going to be focusing on small relaxation techniques and giving myself more time and self-care, as well as trying to think honestly about what stresses me and why. Self awareness is key and reducing stress doesn’t have to be about making drastic changes.

Quit a Bad Habit

My bad habit is biting my nails which goes hand in hand with the ridiculous amounts of stress I find myself dealing with. I’ve researched ways of stopping, including putting this foul tasting gunk on my nails, but I’m also looking at the big picture and realizing if I lower my stress and find better coping techniques, beating this habit will be easier.

For some it might be staying up too late, watching too much TV, playing too many video games, drinking too much wine, smoking, chocolates or procrastinating. We all have a bad habit that we can quit, but be kind to yourself whilst you’re doing it. This one may need hard goals, but it might also be possible to cut down and wean yourself off whatever you think is bad for you. Evaluate and find a realistic plan

Expanding Horizons

This is something that can be truly fun. New Year’s resolutions don’t have to be about cutting things out – they can be about adding fun things to your life! I’d like to read more books, immerse myself in education, learn a new skill and head to more museums. What do you want more of in your life and how can you get it?

Make a Difference

You can make a difference to other peoples lives and not just your own by volunteering for a charity, helping the homeless, donating to a food bank or just looking at the community around you and seeing where you have a skill that could be useful to others.

Spend more Time Doing Something You Love

This is my favourite type of resolution – the type that encourages us to have more fun! Most people have something in their lives that they would like to spend more time doing for themselves, something that’s fallen to the wayside or been overcome by time, money or logistics issues. I think this is one that can affect new parents the most of all the above, as we’re all prone to putting ourselves to one side whilst we give everything we have to our children. But self-care and living for yourself is incredibly important and I really do believe that a happier mum will lead to a better family experience overall. For me there are two things I want to focus on doing more in 2019, the first of which is painting collectible miniature models, something that I find therapeutic and incredibly relaxing (ties into stress less!) but which I have had little to no time for lately. The second is to spend more time around horses. Horses have been a passion of mine since childhood and although I don’t own a horse or ride regularly, before my son was born I’d make an effort to spend some time with the local horses and attend show-jumping. Since my son was born I haven’t even had time to follow the large show-jumping events on the TV. So that’s some place I can start to get back into the saddle, so to speak!

There must be something out there that you enjoy doing that you’ve put to one side and would like to start up again. Make a New Year’s resolution to find that time for you, and stick to it!

Those are my plans for my New Year’s Resolutions – although each of these has quite a lofty goal, the actual implementation of these goals can be measured in very small steps that lead to success. I think they’re realistic and obtainable and things that will resonate with a lot of people, so will you be joining me in making any of these your New Year’s Resolution? If these aren’t for you, what are you goals and New Year’s Resolution ideas for 2019?