Resolutions Don't Have to Force You to Fail

Christina Antus considers New Year's resolutions and explains why she won't be making any this year.

Every year people compile lists of health, fitness, parenting, and lifestyle goals.

I am not one of these people.

I'm a firm believer that the best way to never accomplish something is to make myself promise I'll do it.

I'm not telling you not to make resolutions.

Maybe you're good at them, and they structure your life. Maybe every year, you whip out last year's list and check off everything you've accomplished before making your new list, taking care to include any resolutions unmet in the previous year. If so, congratulations on having your life together. Last week, I found four missing sock pairs. That was pretty amazing for me.

So, I'm not saying you shouldn't do it.

I'm saying I'm not doing it.

Because I will never do them.

Every day I have a to-do list that's a mini resolution list. To-do lists are realistic resolutions, and if you think about it, they are the resolutions that keep on giving throughout the year. I don't need to make a resolution that I'll be better at managing my laundry because six people live in this house and it’s possible to manage my laundry. I hope for the best and assume that by December, I will have done some laundry.

If my fitness goal is to have a six-pack by February, it’s probably going to be a six pack of beer. Mostly because it’s easier to get beer.

My point is, resolutions can be small everyday things. They don't have to be something you lock yourself into that forces you to fail. If losing weight is something you desire enough to stick to every day for a year, that’s wonderful. If you’re like me, you would like to feel better, so you dedicate time to exercise. Of course, other life things will most definitely get in the way, like not exercising and refusing to give up creamer in your coffee. Because, to me, creamer is basically my coffee. So, maybe I lose 5 pounds instead of 45.

Aim small.

Build from there.

Besides, who said resolutions have to be something that is accomplished in a year? Rome wasn’t built in a day. It didn’t fall in a day either. If resolutions are meant to improve yourself or life, then it would be a lie to say you’ll get it all done in a year's time. Changes take constant effort over time with room to fall and get back up again.

I think the idea of yearly resolutions are silly because every moment is a chance to start over or make changes. You don’t have to do it at the start of the year. Every day you wake up is a new start. Heck, any moment we are still alive can be a new start.

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Who said resolutions have to be something that is accomplished in a year? #catholicmom

Maybe it can be good enough for me to say that in 2021, I'll keep trying to be the things I want to be and work on the things that need work. And maybe in the areas that I completely suck at might suck less as I keep the momentum going. If I lose some weight on the way, great. If I waste money on a gym membership I don’t use, fine. If I eat healthier, I understand it won’t be consistent.

Make your resolutions if you must, but keep them real and make them count. Make them something that matters to you and brings you joy.

Whatever it is that you do or don’t do, I hope you find happiness with it. After all, that should be the point. And it’s in the little things we tend to find the most joy anyway.

Like finding four missing sock pairs.

Copyright 2020 Christina Antus
Image: Pixabay (2015)