New Year’s Resolutions–Or Not
I am ambivalent about New Year’s resolutions. If I make them, I go all in! And I have succeeded: walking outside every single day of the year; reading across wider genres; cutting back on sugar.
I make them not “because they’re good for me” but because the habits I already want to form benefit from a nudge.
Last year was different. I resolved to take up yoga. I’d hated it in the past, but I’d finally been convinced of its benefits. So I started. And continued. And when January rolled into February, I was still doing yoga.
Only, I never liked it. Maybe it was helping me physically, but it was a chore. Still, I told myself I couldn’t give up. New Year’s resolution and all.
But then I realized I’d chosen yoga “because it was good for me”. Not because it was a habit I wanted to form.
So, if you do resolutions, especially about writing, consider how much you want to do what you’ve resolved to do. If you want to write every day, then put five minutes into your schedule every day. If you think you should write every day because that’s what “writers” do, then you’ll end up like me and yoga: resentful.
My New Year’s Resolution? This year, I’m going without. I’ll write when I can, and read what I want and try to be healthy. Okay, maybe that is my resolution. 🙂
Wishing you all the best in 2024!