New Years Resolutions - 2011 and everyone is making resolutions! I have only made one resolution that I have ever kept; to stop making new years resolutions! So here are my reasons for why new years resolutions are a bad idea and I no longer participate in the annual ritual:

1 - If there is something you are committed enough to resolve to change it in your life, why wait till January 1st? If it is important; do it. Waiting is just an excuse and January 1st is an arbitrary point in time. Why is any day better in the year to decide to make your life better ... I like the idea of not procrastinating and just doing it; not waiting around for some magical date on a calendar.

2 - How many people do you know who have actually kept new years resolutions? By setting definitive goals, I am deeming myself to fail and will end up feeling bad! Change is hard and proclaiming on January 1st that I will do (or will never do) something in definitive terms with no wiggle rooms is basically a proclamation that I am not going to succeed, seen from a glass-half-empty point of view; it is a proclamation that I am going to fail! Change should be introduced slowly as new habits take time to form. I find it far more rewarding and I am more likely to be successful if I go slow and not beat myself up for slipping up now and then, instead of failing on my resolution in the first few weeks (or day).

3 - Suddenly embracing a new life-style at the same time as everyone else puts a huge strain on the system! This is me being selfish, but I hate yoga in January ... because suddenly everyone else is there. Or how about trying to get food at the grocery store, suddenly all the good stuff is gone because everyone has resolved to "eat-better this year". I find starting a new habit is easier at other times of the year. In the gym, the place is empty in the spring so I can slowly get comfortable, and set-up my routine. Or I can be healthy with my shopping habits starting in the summer, where there are so many options and making use of local food is easy.

4 - New years resolutions suggest that life isn't great the way it is. Sure, we all could look in the mirror and identify things in our lives that could be improved and we can all kick ourselves for not doing something about it sooner. But most people are doing an OK job of living life and loving themselves, and most people hate winter. Why kick yourself when you are down? Why, ten short days after the shortest day of the year, do people become all introspective and start to battle with winter and themselves?

I resolve instead to love winter (and myself) and take opportunities to reflection when they come. If you do read this blog on a regular basis, you are probably thinking that my new years resolution should be to bring a little more sunshine to this posts! Well, you are in luck - I promise (barring any nightmares) that the next post will be all passion and optimism ... until then; good luck with your resolutions, but don't come crying to me when in February you realise you have broken every one of them and feel miserable for it!

PS: Passion and optimism; no brownie points for guessing what the next post will be on!