For many of us, the end of one year and the start of another is a time to reflect on what we have achieved and consider what else we would like to accomplish. Often, we set targets and list those things as New Year’s resolutions.
A study showed that 60% of us will make resolutions, but only 8% will achieve them. The most common choices for resolutions include losing weight, exercising more and saving money.
Whether you are someone who always has a list of targets, or maybe you prefer to go with the flow, chances are that at some point you’ve made a resolution. Personally, I don’t feel that it’s always a good thing to create a long list of (mostly) unachievable targets as I’m the kind of person that if I don’t get to cross something off my list I feel as though I have failed. It doesn’t matter how many items from the list I have managed to complete, that one item will make me feel like a failure.
If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that sometimes it’s better to keep things simple. The endless months of lockdown and cancelled plans meant that I had to simplify my outlook a little more. Now that there is news of a vaccine and green shoots of hope, it would be easy to get carried away and plan all sorts of big events and adventures. But I think we all know that we are still a long way from the normal life that we once knew. As much as I would love to be booking a big family holiday and dreaming of live music events, I guess I just don’t want to get my hopes up and find that it’s unachievable.
So, for this year, I am building on the lessons of 2020 and keeping things simple. I hope to go with the flow a little more, embrace opportunities and explore new ideas.
The only real resolution that I really have for 2021 is to do more writing. I have dozens of blog ideas swirling around my head waiting to be put down on paper and some unfinished fiction manuscripts that I found on a trip to the loft. My 14-year-old keeps nagging me to finish one of them that she particularly likes, so that will be a hope for this year.
What about you? Do you make resolutions or do you think the whole idea is pointless? What are your hopes for 2021?