Why I Don’t Do New Year’s Resolutions

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Ever heard the phrase “another day, another dollar”?  Well, this is how I view New Year’s resolutions: “another year, another goal.” A goal that most people won’t meet, that is. To me they’re a waste of time — time that I could spend actually working on my goals instead of waiting for the “right” day to start.

I want to feel good and be happy just as much as the next woman, I just choose to put in the work every day and not wait until New Year’s to start. Because let’s be honest: A lot of us don’t start. Or we do and then it phases out before Valentine’s Day. I’ve found that what works for me is to not wait. To just jump right in.

I don’t want to wait until January 1 to eat better. Heck, I might be 10 pounds heavier before I do that. I don’t want to wait until January 1 to be more patient with my kids; every day is precious, and I don’t want to waste one with my bad-mommy attitude. And I definitely don’t want to wait until January 1 to be better than I am, because I want to be better now. I want to feel better now. I want to be happier NOW.

When I think of the point of resolutions, it’s all quite simple: to improve something in our life, to become better at something, to lose weight (ha ha). The whole idea is to promote something positive in your life: positive change. And if it’s something that I really want, I’m not going to wait until the clock strikes midnight. I’m just going to go for it. I have no desire to wait and procrastinate until it’s a new year.

I don’t even remember a single New Year’s resolution I’ve ever had. You know how everyone resolves to lose weight starting January 1? The one time I did lose weight, it had nothing to do with a resolution. It happened randomly in the month of March when I set my mind on doing better.

I feel like setting New Year’s resolutions is just a way to set yourself up to fail. There’s this huge buildup to the start of a new year. Whatever resolution you’ve chosen is coming, and you’re going to do it 100 percent perfectly. That’s a lot of pressure to put on yourself leading up to the BIG day (because New Year’s Day is the BIG day where you won’t eat that bag of chips). Why do that to yourself?

Setting a goal for any time in the future is like setting a huge weight on your shoulders. I try to stay as Zen as possible and one way I do that is by just going with it. I want to lose weight? I won’t eat after 9 p.m. anymore. I wanted to read more, so I told myself I’d read two books a week and should hit 80 for the year. I hit 101 books on December 31.

If there’s something you’ve been waiting to accomplish, I say do it now, no matter the date. Put the wheels in motion to accomplish whatever it is you’ve been wanting to accomplish, now. Why not?

Now that I avoid the whole New Year’s resolution thing, I don’t have the stress of some goal lurking waiting for me at the start of the year. If there’s something I desire, something I want to accomplish, I just go for it. And you should, too.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?

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Simone Praylow
Simone Praylow is wife and bestest friend in the world to Otis (better known as Odor) and mom to football and soccer loving Grayson 12, competitive cheerleader Elind, 7 and tantrum expert Ozzy Voltaire, 2. She is a native of New Jersey but relocated to Key West and later Columbia. As an overachiever, she believes learning is the best gift she can give her children and spends much of her time teaching her children at home (Grayson attends school, but the learning doesn't end when he leaves the classroom). Simone finds motherhood and family life are most easily managed by having a system in place for homelife, kids' schedules (including learning, screen time and reading) and meal planning. She is an avid reader who finds books are one of the best ways to unwind at the end of the day. She spends a lot of time boxing and at Pure Barre getting her burn on. You'll often find her buried in a book or on Pinterest getting ideas for her next project or yummy meals for the family menu.

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