The New Year is always one of my favorite times of year. Out with the old and in with the new. A time for change. A new beginning. And as a super goal oriented person, I start crafting my perfect list of New Year's Resolutions the day after Christmas. A resolution is defined as "a firm decision to do or not to do something." But when is our resolutions ever actually truly firm decisions? There are years that just the act of writing down my resolution with out actually doing it once was enough to appease my inner perfectionist, but then there was that one glorious year that I gave up drinking diet coke and all other sugary sodas for a whole 365 days and then some. What makes it stick?
The truth is that I have written about this (and given advice on it!) before and the answer is... I have no fucking clue. If I knew how to make resolutions stick, I would be skinny, a marathon runner, a 10 times better artist, a piano player, I would have a fat savings account and this exact blog would have maybe 40 more articles posted on it. The funny thing is that I have heard the answer many times before from doctors, health coaches, trainers, nutritionist, and so on... they have all said the same thing. Take it slow and make it manageable. Basically don't try and change everything at once and introduce a small amount of new things each day, week, and month, and eventually all your dreams will come true!
So why the fuck am I not a skinny millionaire yet!?! Well, probably because my resolutions have not really been firm decisions, they have been thoughts, wishes, and parts of really ambitious lists and schedules. There have only been a few significant things in my life that I have considered firm decisions. To go to and graduate college, to move to California, to work in animation, to adopt my dog, to move in and create a household with Sam, and to start an art & writing career. I can count those firm decisions on both of my hands, or just one hand if I had six fingers per hand. I know I have made at least 25 New Year Resolutions before and the majority of them I can't even remember. Well actually I'm sure at least 15 of those were to loose weight so that covers the most of them, and since I am like 8 pounds away from my heaviest weight ever, those firm decisions were obviously not firm enough. Just like my thighs.
So this year instead of making a New Year's Resolution, I am going to make a New Year's Firm Decision. Yes, it is the same exact thing as a resolution by definition, but my success ratings with resolutions is not that great and my firm decisions in life have been successful so far with hard work and dedication. A resolution seems to be fad to bettering yourself, but a firm decision is a life choice that you will achieve at no cost and that will continue for years to come.
I will be sharing updates on my 2019 firm decision through out the year once I thoughtfully plan it out. Please share what your New Year's Firm Decision is in the comments!
I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and humorous 2019!!!
💗 Jennifer
