I reckon we should all chill out with the New Years resolutions…here’s why

January is bleak. We know this. The festive comedown, the stretched bank account, the grey skies and severe lack of tinsel are all factors to make this a difficult month - the worst of the twelve in my opinion. Yet it’s the month we seem to become masochists; voluntarily forcing the toughest rules and restrictions upon ourselves.

From rich Christmas dinners to going cold turkey (and I don’t mean the leftovers), to consuming your bodyweight in champagne/mulled wine/any alcohol you can get your hands on to suddenly cutting out every last drop. Not exercised for the month of December? I bet you’ve suddenly enrolled for an outdoor bootcamp you’d ordinarily have no interest in attending (actually I must confess, I’m talking about myself here). We do like to go 0-100 in a way we only do this time of year.

Not exercised for the month of December? I bet you’ve suddenly enrolled for an outdoor bootcamp you’d ordinarily have no interest in attending

But why? The panic of a new date, seeing everyone’s 2022 round ups and thinking “did I go on holiday enough? Work hard enough? Exercise enough?”. I get it. A new calendar year is the perfect opportunity to tell yourself this will be the year it all works out - you’ll suddenly write that novel you know is inside you, while being the perfect friend/partner/child/parent/cousin/boss/employee - oh and throw in a body transformation in the mix as well.

It’s not the goals I take umbrage with, it’s the amount of ambitious goals we thrust upon ourselves as the clock strikes midnight on New Years’ Day.

I must confess - I’m obsessed with making goals. I make yearly ones, but I also make quarterly ones and monthly ones. And if you count time-blocking as a goal, then yes I have daily ones too. These small goals I can fully get behind and genuinely motivate me far more effectively than large, grandiose yearly resolutions. Instead of putting all the pressure on yourself in January, break it down over the year - you don’t need attack all your goals in the first week when you’re trying to polish off the rest of your Christmas chocolate and get through all your work emails.

You don’t need attack all your goals in the first week when you’re trying to polish off the rest of your Christmas chocolate

Knowing you keep yourself accountable with smaller milestones over 12 months means you’ll avoid the disappointment when you get to December and you suddenly remember those rogue promises you made to yourself back in January.

After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day - just start with a brick.