Do You Have Anti-Resolutions?

Are you anti-resolutions? Do you think New Year’s isn’t a great time to make a change to your life? Do you get tired of the jokes about “I start today—just kidding, next year”? Did you grow up seeing late night talk show hosts joking about New Year’s Resolutions? Well then, you’re in the right place!

I’m kind of anti-resolution myself. I think the idea of the New Year being a time to completely change your life is a tough one. But that being said, there isn’t something about that “New Year, New Me!” feeling. January 1 is a great time to set goals for the year, decide what you want to achieve, and work on changing things.

This year, I decided to do something different in my journal. I didn’t just set my yearly goals. I set anti-resolutions: things I don’t want to do this year and things I don’t want to change about myself. Yeah, that’s right: I did the thing that goal setting experts always say not to do. But I found it really cathartic.

Why I Think Setting Anti-Resolutions is Good for 2021

If you’ve been struggling this past year (and truly, who hasn’t been?), you might think there was nothing good about 2020. Nothing positive. And while I whole heartedly kind of agree with you, I do think it’s important to look at the things we’ve learned about ourselves, about our place in the world, and about our community and decide what we want to be moving forward.

Anti-resolutions are a way of telling yourself: in 2020, I was enough. Even if I didn’t achieve what I thought I would. Even if I gained weight. Even if I stopped doing XYZ. Even if, even if, even if. In 2020, you were enough, regardless of what you did or did not do.

How to Set Anti-Resolutions

First things first, look at your past year with a critical lens. What did and did not work for you? What was the most difficult part of the year for you? What did you learn about yourself this year?

Write those things down. Journal about it. Get really into your feelings about it. Write down the things you’re scared to write down. The things you were most challenged by.

Now, look at everything you’ve written and ask yourself, really: what would you not change about yourself this year? What was something that defined the last year in terms of you? Your resilience? Your strength? Those are your anti-resolutions: the parts of yourself that stuck around when you needed them most.

Here are a few examples that I wrote down for myself:

• I will not be bogged down by diet and body talk this year.

• I will not work to shrink myself.

• I will not stop being over-the-top when it comes to at-home activities for Forrest.

What are your anti-resolutions? Let me know in the comments!

All My Goals for January 2018

This year, I decided not to write a list of resolutions. As I've written before (like in my post about setting goals), I find it is easiest for me to break things down into easy, digestible pieces. And often that means focusing on small, week-to-week or month-to-month goals versus a large, overarching goal.

1. Meal Prep 

When I say "meal prep," I definitely don't mean making 400 prepackaged meals. Nothing turns me off food more than it being old and soggy. Also I got food poisoning in October from a banana muffin, so I'm not forever suspicious of leftovers of any kind. However, a few years ago, I would often cook up a big thing of brown rice and a bunch of protein, and just add veggies and condiments throughout the week. That way, I'm not just microwaving a little plate and having to look at the same meal over and over and over again. I want to start having ingredients prepped (rice cooked, chicken ready, veggies trimmed, washed, and cut up) so I can more easily make dinner and not have to do a complicated tango with Forrest in the kitchen every time I try to make dinner. 

Danny and I have a shared goal of cutting out junk food (mainly fast food, because it's so easy to stop and get a Dutch Bros or a sandwich instead of making something at home), so this is definitely part of that larger goal. 

2. Rededicate myself to working out 

Danny and I joined (well, I rejoined) the gym in April and for about 4 months, I was extremely dedicated. Then I just got really tired. I can't really explain what happened, but I think a lot of it was burn out: by the time October rolled around, I had been working part-time, running my blog's new content strategy, and working out. I was tired a lot and often ended up accidentally napping on the couch--and worse, I was half-assing it at the gym. The past few weeks, I've actually taken a break from the gym (Danny, a rockstar, is still going) and just been focusing on eating healthy. In January, I want to really want to go to the gym again and dedicate myself to a system that I know works (lifting weights). 

3. Write blog strategy for 2018 

Recently, I mentioned that around August, I gave myself an ultimatum: I had 1 year to make this blog work or I wasn't doing it anymore. I've been blogging for nearly 10 years and while I've never reached any kind of success, I feel like I have at least muddled through with a following and decent numbers. However, just in terms of effort-I'm-putting-in versus what-I'm-getting-out, I definitely was putting in almost no effort and getting none in return. In short, I wasn't happy, but I didn't exactly want to quit blogging. I realized that I needed to actually make an effort, do all the things I'd read about for years, and just deal with it. Just get on with it! So in August, I wrote a short, 3-step blog strategy that I've been following. It's not perfect. This month, I'm planning to write a more complete strategy for really making this blog work. Wish me luck! 

(Click here to read my post about achieving goals for your blog!) 

4. Redesign blog graphics

I currently use Canva for my blog graphics and, while I love it, there is definitely an element of "nearly every blogger uses this font"! The fonts I selected as my design moving forward happen to be some of the best Canva offer under the free plan. Moving forward, I want to do a redesign of my font aesthetic and start using photoshop to create my graphics, if only so I can differentiate my look from others! 

(Click here to read my blog post about Canva & how I use it for my blog.)

5. Write for 20 minutes a day

This is one that is really difficult for me, but I want to write 20 minutes a day. Michelle, you're probably thinking, you work as a writer, with a side hustle as a blogger. You write already. 

Well, this goal is actually about journaling. I love journaling. I've been doing it since I was 12 or 13. But in the past few years, it's definitely fallen to the wayside. So this month, I really want to try to hand write in my journal for 20 minutes at least every day. 

(Click here to read my blog post about how I refuse to force myself to be productive.)