I hate New Year's Resolutions because they are always so grand and idealistic but lack measurability and accountability. How can you achieve your goal of "losing weight" if you don't have a) an end goal in sight - technically you could lose a kilo and count that as a success b) measurable means of attaining said goal - how can you know on a day-to-day basis that you are putting in the work to achieve what you want? It's too easy to fall off the wagon, to forget your resolutions after a month, to lose focus on your goals when life gets in the way.
Most years, I simply don't make resolutions. But most years I also get to December and wonder where the year has gone and what I did with it.
So for 2014, I'm taking a different tact and setting myself some small, measurable resolutions that are achievable on a daily basis but make an overall difference to my life.
1. Wash my face every night. I never remove my make up before bed. I wake up in the morning with panda eyes and pillow face and wonder why it is that I never feel fresh and lovely come sunrise. Not any more. This is part of my perpetual goal of one day becoming a 'real adult'. Presently I am an overexcited toddler stuck in the body of a 23-year-old.
2. Save at least 10% of each week's pay. I know most people just do this automatically, but I am not most people. I am a silly person who lives week-to-week and never has money left over for fun things. Part of this is that we don't earn a great deal, but most of it is simply that neither Tom nor myself have any self-control and don't know how to save money. I'm going to make a spreadsheet and keep a damn budget. But in the likely event that I get bored of that, I'm making my resolution the simple act of putting money aside and not using it on beers when we suddenly decide we feel like going to the Exeter.
There are other things I wish to do in the year, but I don't want to treat them like resolutions. My mind changes too often. Life changes too often. We might have to pack up and move in the middle of the year or we might be in this same house twelve months from now. In a couple of days I'm going to blog about some of my plans for the year to come, but while those are dreams and hopes and
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