January 1st is not the right time to implement good resolutions

Interesting that so many are breaking the year into monthly chunks. My DiL was saying that she was planning on going without something each month: sugar, plastic, meat - she had more ideas. She'll probably keep to it too, as she's very strong-willed. The little ones (8, 5 and 1) will just have to go along with it. As will my son!

Your ‘random stuff’ Rosiebee reminds me of all the good habits I keep promising myself I’ll adopt!

Dear Sharon how did you do that?! I think quite a few of us we’ll be grateful to know. Please tell!!!

Witzend

Back in mid October I made a resolution that once the clocks changed, I’d go through every single drawer and cupboard in the house, one a day, and get rid of loads of stuff.

So far I’ve done 2 small drawers!

Love it. And the reason is - it’s pointless clearing and cleaning in the dark. You’ll never be able to see it clearly!

Last year, after my birthday on the 7th Jan, I decided that I needed to develop some good habits. I wrote about 15 down on luggage labels and popped them into a jar. I drew one out each month and tried with various degrees of success to try and bed in that particular habit. Lots of random stuff such as "drink more water", "use body lotion every day", "walk 5000 steps a day", put things away", balance on one leg whilst cleaning teeth". All a bit Michael Mosely. Some months I pulled two out. I clipped each one to a board to try and keep that habit going. Will try it again this year as some good did come of it and it never felt as onerous as resolutions for the whole year.

Well Witzend, that's 2 small drawers that wouldn't have been cleared out if you hadn't made that resolution!
Personally I think one's birthday is a good time for a new resolution. I'm not very good at keeping them though! Or if course NOW is the perfect time 😁

Well done sharonarnott. I have a relation who would be interested in knowing how you lost the weight.

Better than nothing ! 😀

On January 1 2011 I started my new year's resolution to lose weight. I never looked back and lost just over 6st in the 14 months that followed. You could find an excuse never to start anything. The key was working on the psychology side throughout December 2010 and I was more than ready by the time January 1 came around. The sense of achievement did wonders for my confidence and feelings of self worth.

Any time is a good time to change things that you think need changing in your life. I think the trouble often is that people aim for too much and then can't do it. Small steps, little by little, towards whatever the goal is seems like a better idea to me.

Regarding resolutions, I always consider each birthday as the start of MY new year! So that's when I tend to examine my life and decide if I want to make any changes.

As a counsellor I sometimes warn my clients against making any radical resolutions in January. Everything is at a low ebb. Moat resolutions fail before the month is out, leaving a sense of failure and loss of self esteem which then demolishes any further motivation. The beginning of February is a great time - light is increasing and the pagan festival of Imbolc (festival about the stirrings of new life) falls on February 2nd - much more motivating. But it is still important to make resolutions that are 'do-able' and mostly better to have positives (e.g. I will drink 3 pints of water per day) rather than negatives, such as "No chocolate or alcohol' Good luck and happy new year to all!

Callistemon21

Blossoming

Callistemon21

Too many people set themselves up to fail by setting impossible targets

January's is to eat up all the cake and chocolate.
I might not manage the chocolate.

I can help you with that.

😁 thank you

The first day of spring, as Fleurpepper suggests, sounds like a good idea.
Although that coincides with Easter!

Well spotted- so day after Easter then, that will do.

I agree January 1st is not the best time to start a resolution.

19 years ago I decided to quit smoking. We usually go out NY Eve so knew it would be really hard to wake up late on NY Day with that in mind. I set myself a date of 1st February instead and, for me, it worked.

It was incredibly difficult and not something I would ever want to go through again but I did it and never looked back.

I spent a lot of January preparing myself by cleaning out a room at a time plus the car and as I finished each room I closed the door and that became a smokeless zone. I wanted no reminders of anything smoking related so out went old lighters, matches, ash trays and an odd stash of cigarettes here and there.

My To Do lists are more panicked ‘Arggghh! Get Through As Many Of These As You Can In An Hour!’ ones, which are a triumph of hope over experience .

I have promised myself that I will spend a couple of hours a day in my new study (a converted box room) reading, writing, whatever can be done at a desk instead of aimlessly pottering in the mornings. I’m in there now, on day 2. I also want to book things instead of thinking about it until there are no tickets left.

Doodledog If it has to be done it will be top of the the list. A monthly goal is quite a good idea and more achievable, easier to see how well you did at the end of the month and much better than a New Year's resolution for a whole year which seldom works. I intend to eat and enjoy all my various food & chocolate gifts over the next few weeks and appreciate that they were given to me/us as treats.

I quite fancy the idea of short term, monthly goals. Shall give that a go. This month, I shall drink less wine and read more books. Nice balance there I think.

As I said above, my daughter does that, and it works for her. I like the idea, and could definitely do with being more organised, but I don’t respond well to ‘false’ deadlines. I know when something has to be done, and will do it in time - setting the alarm 30 minutes early, or telling myself to get a room ready on Thursday when a visitor is arriving on Saturday just doesn’t work for me. I would leave things until they hit the ‘Do It Now!!’ List, I’m sure.

Whatever works for you though.

I always have 'to do' list on the go, daily and weekly, I like/enjoy being able to tick them off the list, if not ticked off they are carried forward to the next week (month). Does that seem a bit OTT? Polite answers only please.

I tend to have goals rather than resolutions, so specific ones such as things to get done around the house, or more general ones such as setting aside time every day to do something I might not otherwise get round to doing.

I think the January impetus is just because it’s a new year, so anything that is done before Christmas is a 2024 thing, plus life tends to be cyclical, with key dates at various times of year. Also, promising myself that I will do X every day is likely to fail if I start in December, as there is too much going on. January for me is a bit of a ‘shoulders down’ time - Christmas is over, and my work deadlines don’t start again until May.

My daughter is very fond of lists, with daily, weekly and monthly lists, depending on priorities. If something isn’t completed it moves to the next level, so a weekly item that is not done by Sunday night becomes a daily one on Monday. It works for her, but she has more calls on her time than I do, and I think I would feel constrained by the constant deadlines.

I’m not one for diet or exercise goals, but I like the idea of a virtue a month . That doesn’t sound as though it has ‘Doomed To Fail’ stamped through it, so I might give that a go. Chocolate-denial will have to wait a while though - there are too many treats lying about for that to work just now.

henetha

I've always thought that January is a bad time to start a diet as it's usually cold and wet so we need the calories.
Far better to diet in spring or summer.
Or is this just my excuse?

That is the most sensible thing I have read about new year resolutions. I totally agree. We need to build our winter coats to keep warm and start and shed them in the spring. Thank you.

Blossoming

Callistemon21

Too many people set themselves up to fail by setting impossible targets

January's is to eat up all the cake and chocolate.
I might not manage the chocolate.

I can help you with that.

😁 thank you

The first day of spring, as Fleurpepper suggests, sounds like a good idea.
Although that coincides with Easter!

Grandmabatty

Thanks all. It's doable because I only focus on a month at a time. I never attempt to give up drink or go on a diet. I might do a month without chocolate but it's only a month. When the weather turns milder I'll do walk more as a target. I might have a target of go to the cinema once a week. The choice is personal.

Grandmabatty That's such a simple but effective method, with much greater chance of success. I love that you can tailor it to the prevailing circumstances of any given month, whether that be climate, finances, or just "need to do". I'll certainly be giving it a go, thank you for the idea.

Agreed- we should make 'good resolutions' on the first day of Spring. When the sap is rising, the sun is back, the days getting longer, and we spend more time outdoors, watching nature spring to life. That is 'my' time to make positive plans.

Love your name, Lovetopaint037. Ok, we'll start a diet in
June then.... So meanwhile I can eat all the cake etc left over.