Why I Haven't Set Resolutions for 2015

 New Year's Resolutions.

Do those three words make you cringe? Or maybe the thought of a new year ripe for improving makes you giddy. I know both kinds.

I definitely fall into the former category. I hate feeling like a failure, and more often than not, that's what happens. Most resolutions are made to be broken. A lofty idea that's given up by the end of February, if not before. I don't often beat myself up over things, but I HATE making commitments I can't keep.

That's probably why I tend to play it safe - but that's a subject for another day.

I know I'm late talking about this. Like, big time. After all, we're half-way through January. Most bloggers posted about their goals on January 1st and have now moved on to Valentine's Day. (But really, what else is new?) I wasn't even sure I was going to write about resolutions at all.

Why I'm Not Setting Formal Resolutions or Goals

Last year I set "goals," which sounded less intimidating than resolutions, but in honesty, it was just a matter of semantics. Goals, resolutions, or whatever you call them, are often lofty and hard to maintain. This proved true for me since I fully completed less than half of last year's goals. :-(

And no, I don't want to talk about it. :)

But it isn't just because of past "failures" that I'm scrapping the goals this year.

 

There are three main reasons why I will not be setting formal resolutions in 2015: 

1. They can be difficult to track. Last year I got a bit overzealous and made 18 goals! Granted, several were once-and done easy goals, but many more were long-term, requiring something to be done each month. I started out strong in almost all of them, but quickly lost steam, which brings me to #2...
2. Life happens. Setting an agenda for a whole 12 months doesn't really seem to work for me. I made some really great goals last year, but as my year went on, I realized not all of them were really going to work with my current stage of life. Add on the survival mode I encountered in my first trimester of pregnancy, and many things just didn't happen. My energy was sapped and I lost ALL motivation to even think about goals.
3. I'm having a baby. This is definitely the biggest reason I'm avoiding resolutions this year. A new baby (especially with a toddler already) means a lot of transition and a good measure of the unknown. Some babies sleep all the time and others will cry seemingly non-stop unless they are held and rocked. Since pretty much all my friends have two or more kids, I know this very well. Since I have no idea how things will go once baby girl arrives early this spring, it didn't seem fair or realistic to set big goals and resolutions for myself. 

So, does that mean I'm not going to attempt to improve myself this year? Not exactly. I have a workable plan in mind to help me have a smoother 2015. But it's not your traditional set of goals or resolutions. I'll be sharing about my plans in a future post.

So, tell me about you:

Have you set any resolutions or goals for the year ahead? How do you plan to make them happen?

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