Now don’t get me wrong, I am a MASSIVE fan of having goals! This is not to be confused with goal setting at all!

My issue with New Year’s Resolutions is that they often come from a place of fear, or resentment towards oneself or our actions. They come desiring change from a place of pain rather than changing with positive motives and incentives. 

Take one of the most common ones I see for example, the inner dialogue tends to go a little something like this:

New Years Eve:

“Ewww… I hate my body, look at these rolls, I wish I could look different, why can’t I lose weight. Next year, I am going to change, I am going to join a gym, I am going to stick to my diet for good etc…” 

Then what happens? Maybe you join the gym? Maybe you even go consistently for a few weeks, and stick to that ‘diet’, maybe you are giving it your all? But, the changes aren’t as quick as you hoped, or you are exhausted from giving it 100% and you really aren’t enjoying yourself, you burn yourself out, get sick of the diet and then give up in a month’s time because you couldn’t keep up with your initial expectations. 

What I see happen, year after year, is that we set ourselves up for failure. Then when we hit said failure (cue voice in head – ‘see I told you, you can’t do this’), we end up putting ourselves down and not making any real progress at all. 

With New Year’s Resolutions, they are normally formed as punishment for us not being where we want to be in life and then when we fail, it further confirms that belief. 

This is why I don’t like New Year’s Resolutions! Whilst there is always room to grow and improve, the idea of having to become a ‘New You’ is often a massive expectation to live up to. 

And… will power and motivation can only last so long! It comes down to creating a long term, sustainable change! One that is HEALTHY and can be done in small strategic steps so that you form habits that actually change your life.