New Year n all that.

This next year, 2023, what about it eh?

Perhaps you have made New Year’s Resolutions, perhaps not.

This year, because I am 52 and really really tired of making resolutions I know I won’t follow, I have decided to begin a (lovely) notebook, titled, “Because I said I would.”

Many of my friends and family are great at doing things they say they are going to, but quite often, my either undiagnosed ADHD, or most definitely creative and menopausal brain…Or all three, gets easily distracted by shiny things, or most things.

So my one and only NYR is to write the stuff I will most definitely DO in my notebook.

I totally appreciate that some of us struggle with the relentless demands of “What’s your New Year’s Resolution?” Because some people (usually the people asking) are really good at them.

So here’s to us who struggle with that stuff.

So to help along the way, make your first New Year’s resolution…

TO BE KIND TO YOURSELF

If you feel compelled to being the torture of change on the 1st January, make the first week or even the first two weeks … Planning.

Plan to start when you’re ready

That means when you’ve detoxed from the booze (or the family)

When your cupboards are finally empty… Make the goals easier- the year isn’t going anywhere and here in the UK, these next two months are usually the bleakest.

Be kind to yourself, start crap and get better, improve; so just one small change is plenty to start with, and celebrate that you’re on your journey.

Insead of “giving up” the fags/booze/food/sex etc, make it about what you will increase or gain, we are much better working with positive increases, remember what you used to love when you were a kid, go buy that lego kit , that jigsaw, that craft set…Treat yourself. Change can be a fragile beast, so kindness and positive rewards are essential.

Finally, remember if you want to change you, it’s time to change the things that you DO.

Little by little… Plan to watch 5 nights of Netflix instead of 7, plan to listen to the radio or podcasts more, give your eyes a break.

And, If you want…. Have a listen to this recording below to re energise.

Most of all, know that by making the changes that you want, YOU ARE LOVED.

What better gift to ourselves eh?