New Year And No New Year’s Resolution!

Posted on Categories Mindset, Musings on life & living
No New Year's Resolution

That’s Right, No New Year’s Resolution.

It’s Monday, 1 January 2018. I’ve made no new year’s resolution and I absolutely won’t. A long time ago I stopped promising stuff. I’d only let myself and others down. It causes stress and who needs that?

It’s two years now, on 31 December, 2015, I wrote a post about not giving promises anymore.  Because they will haunt you. I stick with those words!

 A Novel Idea.

In reality a new year is from ”one day to another”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in celebrating transitions, but I must say the yearly hoax of the significance of a new year is getting to me. Isn’t it getting worse by the year now?

If you desire a change in your life you might just as well start as soon as you’ve made up you mind. You don’t have to waste one minute even.

I know, it might seem like a novel idea, but instead of promising to do it, why not just go ahead and ”do it” right then and there?

Or “HERE and NOW” if you will.

So what have you promised to do in 2018 that you are energetically already postponing?
Go to the gym? Start you own business? Eat healthier? Stress less?

Those disappointments will haunt you down!

2018 is today and very very soon it will be 2019.

Poor you! Here you are and I should be all enthusiastic, ecstatic, full of optimism, cheering you on about what lies ahead and all you get is realism. 😉

But what if a new way of looking at this is what will create change for you? You’ve probably done optimistic promising before with meager results.

Whenever you make a promise based on previous disappointments those disappointments follow along. They throw a foreshadow on what is coming. Sorry to break the news, but there will more disappointment down the lane that way.

I wish you a fantastic new year, full of joyful achievements. But no promises!

ps. If you would like some help with those achievements you can download my end procrastination self hypnosis track right here.

Comments · 23

  3. I stopped making resolutions this year and started making plans. Resolutions without an action plan is just pointless. Great post! – (Visiting from UBC)

    1. Welcome to the crowd Elisa. Action is the only thing that changes things! 🙂

  6. I also don’t make resolutions. I like to have ideas of what I would like the year to be but that’s the best I can do. I do know it will be an exciting year.

  7. Agree wholeheartedly! I’m working on putting this into action. It’s still a challenging mindset to get out of. Any tips for combatting the mental habit of resolution making?

    1. Hi Lillian!

      Yes, I’m a firm believer in everything is there for a reason. Whatever the challenge it’s part of a survival system that we put on early on. Read the blogpost below, it’s debunking the myths of self destructive behaviour. Whatever we do we come from a position of: it’s good for us.

      “The mental habit of resolution making” might not appear so bad, but in reality it hinders us from getting things done, for real. So the question becomes, wha’t the gain in the promise—disappointment cycle?

      And feel free to come back with more questions any time! 🙂

  9. Great post! I don’t do the new year’s resolution thing myself. But I do plan to get things done.

  10. Great post Stella, I have wondered that too, if each year is getting worse. Or is it that we are becoming more aware of our surroundings that we can see a bit clearer than we could before. I agree that promises each year is pretty pointless, once you decide to make a change, then it should be done at the time the decision is made. Not scheduled. Again, great post and Happy New Year.

    1. Hey Celestial, welcome here! 🙂
      It’s probably because we see it all over every single social media channel all the time. This year it exploded with all the goal setting and tips and tricks on how to stick to your resolutions.

      Thanks for kind feedback and HNY to you too!

  11. I don’t make resolutions either. I plan, set goals, and firmly believe that every day is the start of a new year if you want it to be.

  12. I don’t in any way agree that it’s a hoax. I believe there is energy for creating change and for those who need one, it can actually be helpful to be caught up in that energy. On the other hand, failure and breaking a promise to yourself can hurt you, so I do agree with doing away with the promises and resolutions. I think there’s a way to shift it, actually, by wishing for the feelings & experiences those resolutions could make possible. Instead of resolving to lose weight, you could wish for a year of feeling good about your body when you see it in the mirror. Instead of promising to exercise, you could wish for a year of enjoying the way it feels to move.

  13. As I see it it creates the foundation for waiting till “next… fill in the blank” and disappointment. That’s why I use the word hoax. You can restart any second! I desire to assist people create the shift where they’re standing, in the moment.

    Then I totally agree on ways you suggest to create that change. 🙂

  14. Hi Stella, happy new year!
    If there’s one thing that I learned from making new year’s resolutions ~ and not sticking with them ~ is that they can, depending on what type of person you are, overwhelm you and frustrate you. This year, unlike the previous ones, instead of having resolutions, I created a plan. I have a clear vision of what I want 2018 to be for me, and it is way easier to set up goals this way. 🙂

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