Why I won't be making any New Year's Resolutions

An often asked question at this time of year is what New Year's Resolutions you will be making.

My answer for the last few years is, I'm not.

New Year's Resolutions are doomed to failure.  In January many people enter a new year promising to lose weight, or to stop smoking, or that they'll do 542 press-ups every morning as soon as they leap out of bed.

By February most have given up.

And because their promise to stop the habit or get fit or lose weight came under the title of New Year's Resolution, well, in February the new year is over and the resolution has been broken so that would mean - failure.

Don't get me wrong, I will be resurrecting my attempts to Free Skinny Me once all the Christmas goodies have been eaten but I won't be doing so under the title of a New Year's Resolution.  It's too much pressure and I will not be drawn into counting how many day's I have been "good" and stuck to the resolution before I finally crack and break it and that would mean I have failed.

No doubt I will have good days and bad days when I am back on the diet.  The difference is, I'm not putting extra pressure on myself which I simply do not need.  It isn't a challenge to see how many days I can manage before I fall off the dieting wagon.  My aim is to lose weight over time and accept that sometimes I will have good days, sometimes I will have bad days, but my journey is ongoing and will take time.

I can choose to change anything in my life that I am unhappy with at any time during the year.   Another bug-bear about resolutions is the fact that making good choices shouldn't be an annual occurrence.  We shouldn't limit ourselves the opportunity of turning our lives around to once a year.  If we have a habit we know needs to be broken, or if we need to get rid of behaviour which isn't good for us or those around us we need to be able to do it at any time - not just because a new year has begun.

What about you?  What do you think of New Year's Resolutions?  Extra pressure or an extra push to change your life?

You can subscribe to Larger Family Life and receive full updates directly to your inbox by clicking here.

[Photo credit]