To Hell with New Year’s Resolutions!

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Don’t make one. (Unless you want to!)

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Let me explain why!

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History Flashback

Let’s go back around 4000 years to the time of the ancient Babylonians. Did you know that it was the ancient Babylonians that are said to be the first people we have record of that made new year’s resolutions?

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That’s right. It was a LOOOOONG time ago. And their resolutions were quite different to what we have nowadays in society. Not only did their new year start in March (when crops were planted), but their resolutions were all about making promises to gods to pay back their debts and return anything they had borrowed in the past year. If they kept their promises, they believed that the gods would favour them for the year ahead. And if not….well, then the opposite!

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So already, we get a sense of the pressure that new year’s resolutions can bring. (God forbid you fail! - no pun intended!)

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If we travel a little further into the future, to the time of the ancient Romans, the new year was adapted to start on January 1st, which, clearly, we’ve stuck with since then. It was believed at that time that the two-faced god, Janus, could look backwards into the past and forwards into the future. The Romans offered sacrifices to the god and would make promises of ‘good conduct’ for the year ahead.
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Again, lots of pressure. I mean, you wouldn’t want to upset the gods back then, would you? Yikes!

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Fast forward to now…and we still make new year’s resolutions. Except it has become more of a societal tradition in many cultures. We make them because it’s ‘just what you do’, right?
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What's the problem with New Year's Resolutions?

Here’s my take on it. And, as always, take it or leave it!

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Remember, my goal is to help you improve your life by simplifying it and decluttering out the things that don’t actually make it better.

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So here goes…

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I always made new year’s resolutions…but ask me what they were and I can barely remember any! They must have been really important. 😂

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Because, if you’re anything like me, you made them too because it was either just what you did on new years or because it was an attempt at improving your life or becoming a better person in one way or another. Or because it felt exciting, hopeful for a little while.
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But how often did you actually reach your goal? Achieve what you set out to achieve?

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Some interesting statistics

• 23% quit in the first week
• Only 36% make it past the first month
• Most people give up on them by mid-February
• Around 9% of adults successfully keep their new year’s resolution
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That’s pretty sh*t if you think about it. A 9% success rate. That means the other 91% (my incredible maths!) are left feeling like they’ve failed or made a decision to give up. And many of them after just 1 week!

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The thing is, they haven’t failed. It’s not that they weren’t good enough to stick to it. They just made goals and resolutions for the wrong reasons or under the wrong circumstances.

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Why most resolutions don't get achieved

• They weren’t truly invested in what they decided they were going to do
• It wasn’t a priority
• They didn’t have a basic plan
• They didn't have support or accountability
• They didn’t know HOW to do it
• They never believed they could do it in the first place
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Creating goals and setting yourself challenges isn’t something you should do on a whim, which is often the case with new year’s resolutions.

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What to do instead

If you want to achieve something, it doesn’t matter if it’s January or May or the day before Christmas! What matters most is that it’s something you TRULY WANT and something you are WILLING TO COMMIT TO and a strong enough reason WHY you want to do it.

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When you have those two things - your WHAT and your WHY, then you are already set up for much more success than before because you know you want this and you know you are willing to focus on it.
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So if you haven’t made a resolution, you have permission to not feel guilty or feel like you’ve missed out on an opportunity.
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You can set yourself a goal ANYTIME that feels right.

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And if your goal is to finally declutter your life, from the inside out - I’m talking mentally, emotionally, time and physical space - then you know I’m here waiting to help you succeed with that! Reply to this email or click one of the links below if you feel called. It's time to stop feeling distracted so that you can focus on living your life fully!

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Wishing you a wonderful 2023 - whether you have a resolution or not! - and in most emails at this time of year they might end with…’What would you like to achieve in 2023?” but mine won’t.
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I’ll simply end it by saying…

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A decluttered life is a life better lived! Here's to feeling even more decluttered in 2023! 🥂

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