Why I Don't Keep New Year Resolutions

As January draws to a close, I've been thinking a lot about the mental rut I usually get myself in at this time of year.

Each time a New Year rolls around I start thinking about all the things I don't like about myself and channel those things into making a list of resolutions to take forward into the New Year and kick start the process of becoming the new me.

Quite predictably, I never quite manage to tackle my list and achieve my goal of becoming the newer, shinier me.

Resolutions work for some people and don't for others, I'm certainly in the latter camp.

Five Reasons Why I Don't Keep Resolutions

I aim too high

Quite often when I'm making my list of things I'd like to change, I don't think about what is going to be achievable in the near future, I go straight for things that are quite hard to achieve and wonder why I struggle.

I don't plan properly

When compiling my list, I'll identify what I'd like to achieve but won't actually break it down into a plan of how I will get to that end goal.

I'm too impatient

After aiming too high and planning poorly, I'll then want super quick results, regardless of how utterly ridonkulous that would be.

I'm too self critical
When I ultimately don't get the results I wanted because I've set myself a moronic goal in a stupidly short time frame, I'll start to give myself a bit of a hard time for being so rubbish that I failed.

I expect to transform into a new person

For some reason, when trying to navigate my way through my annual New Year, New Me phase, I somehow don't realise that I'm not actually trying to be a new me. I'm trying to make positive changes to improve the day to day life of the current me.
More often than not, I expect some sort of brand new Rachie to magically appear in my place.

Now that I've accepted that I'm crap at making and keeping New Year Resolutions, I've resolved never to make them again.

I'm not saying I'll never plan to make positive changes and get my crap together, but I won't put the same kind of pressure on myself or each new year that rolls around to come through for me.

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