The Resolution Rebellion

Do you make a New Year’s resolution every year? Is this the year you’re going to start working out/ lose weight/ stop drinking/ quit your dead-end job? If you answered yes, you’re not alone. According to research, anywhere from 40-70% of adults make New Year’s resolutions… but only 8% actually keep them. Wait, what?!? 8%. That’s it. 

Okay y’all, clearly it’s time to change things up as we head into 2021. Instead of a resolution, this year, try picking your word, your focus, for the year ahead. One word, just one, and then make that into your mantra for the next 365 days. 

How to pick your word? First, think about all of your goals for the year. Personal goals, career/financial goals, goals in your relationships with families and friends. Big goals, small goals, anything goes. Write them all down, even the most seemingly inconsequential goals.Then take your time and mull them over. Find ways in which they are similar. What ties all of your goals together? Eventually, a theme will emerge. Say you want to work out more frequently, stop being late to your Zoom calls, and make healthier eating choices. Then a good word for you this year might be “discipline.” I remember the year I realized how quickly my kids were growing up. My word that year was “savor” because I wanted to truly savor every single minute with them.  

2020 was a total mess, let’s be honest. So much of what did or didn’t happen in my life was due to a global pandemic. Career-wise: first being furloughed, then being brought back to work a crazy number of hours to compensate for a reduced staff. Family-wise: not being able to see most of my extended family for months at a time. Personally: feeling the lack of “girl time”, a dream vacation that was canceled, and trying to help my kids get through the challenges of virtual schooling. Don’t get me wrong: it could have been so much worse, and I am thankful that my biggest complaint is not being able to wander aimlessly around the mall. 

Still, I can’t help but feel that 2020 happened to me, not because of me. . 

That is why my word for 2021 is (drumroll, please)…. CHOOSE. I am going to choose how I want my life to look, and then I am going to figure out how to bring those choices to life. It’s why I’m blogging and writing the next NYT Best Seller – because I choose to be creative. I miss my family, so I will choose to set up more group Zoom calls. You get the idea. Life is not just going to happen… I am going to make sure that 2021 is the year that I choose it to be. 

How about you? What’s your word for 2021? Drop it in the comments!