dearJulius.com

Why You Should Make a New Year's Theme Instead of a Resolution


By Carolyn Kuang-chen Stanley, PureWow

If I had a dollar for every past New Year’s resolution I didn't keep…well, I still wouldn’t have much because I never stuck to that “finally learn to be better with money” attempt I made in 2014. My point is, resolutions are hard for me, but it’s not entirely my fault. There’s something inherently critical about a resolution, something you’re aiming to fix—be a better friend, work out more, shop less. If a new year is supposed to be about starting over, why does it feel like a reminder of every way I’ve fallen short up until now?

So instead of setting another doomed-to-fail resolution this year, I’m taking a different approach entirely: I’m setting a theme for 2019. It’s a word or phrase that sums up the priorities you want to focus on for the year, but not something so specific that it only applies to one habit. Then, throughout the year, you check in with yourself and make sure your decisions align with your theme. This year, my theme is “follow through.” Yes, it does have a ring of self-improvement to it like a resolution, but it’s meant to be proactive rather than reactive. In my case, it could apply to the book idea I’ve been knocking around since last spring or those dining chairs I ordered on Cyber Monday that are still sitting in their shipping boxes. (It’s been a busy month.)

A friend of mine is the one who initially got me into the concept; her past themes include “go after what you want” and “yes, and…” (a nod to the improv philosophy and a reminder to be spontaneous and take chances). Another friend came up with “suffer less” as her mantra for 2019—she explained that while she’s generally very happy with her life, she has a tendency to let anxiety creep in and she’s trying to overcome that.

What makes the concept so much better than a resolution, in my mind, is that there’s no falling off the wagon, say, quitting on day 19 of Whole30 (a totally hypothetical example and not something I’ve done in real life). A theme is more forgiving: You might slip up, but every action is an opportunity to course correct and make sure you’re being true to your goals. Plus, it’s something you’ll keep in mind for a full 365 days, not just—let’s be real—January and the first half of February if you’re lucky.

Hopefully, next December I’ll be sitting on one of my fully assembled chairs, making some final edits on my manuscript and looking back at a year I feel good about. And if not, I’ll come up with something else for 2020—maybe “be realistic.”
selfhelp, new year, wellness, self-care

|Featured Content_$type=three$c=3$l=0$m=0$s=hide$rm=0


A Part of Julius LLC
Made with in NYC by Julius Choudhury
Name

Acne,1,Advice,48,AIDS,1,Alcohol,5,Allergy,5,Animal Health,1,Anxiety,8,Asthma,3,Autism,1,Back Pain,26,Birth Control,1,Blood Pressure,2,Blood Type,1,Cancer,78,Children's Health,19,Coronavirus,32,Dandruff,1,Dementia,8,Dental Health,29,Dentistry,1,Depression,26,Diabetes,30,Diet,136,Disease,117,Drink,26,Drugs,3,Ears,3,Eczema,1,Exercises,62,Eye Health,30,Fat Loss,74,Featured,102,Features,167,Fitness,659,Fitness & Exercise,218,Flu,3,Food,77,Fruits,4,General,7,Get Healthy,68,Gut Health,2,Halloween,2,Headache,24,heal,1,Health,284,Health & Fitness,267,Health Care,650,Health Insurance,1,Health Tips,9,Healthcare Tech,7,Healthy,12,Healthy Eating,204,Healthy Habits,262,Healthy Living,150,Hearing,7,HIV/AIDS,4,Legs,1,Life,1,LifeStyle,3,Massage,5,Meditation,31,Men & Women,18,Men's Health,12,Mental Health,353,Multiple Sclerosis,1,Muscle Gain,3,Nutrition,490,Oral,4,Pain,24,Posture,9,Pregnancy,71,Psoriasis,1,Psychology,1,Recipes,51,Safety,4,Self-care,29,Sex,7,Sexual Health,20,Skin Care,36,Sleep,74,Smile,1,Snacks,1,Special,6,Special Feature,111,Stress Relief,40,Stroke,4,Teeth,5,Therapy,2,Tips,104,True Health,5,Vegetables,4,Weight Gain,22,Weight Loss,492,Wellness,98,Women's Health,172,Workouts,93,Yoga,64,
ltr
item
Health and Fitness: Why You Should Make a New Year's Theme Instead of a Resolution
Why You Should Make a New Year's Theme Instead of a Resolution
Instead of setting another doomed-to-fail resolution this year, I'm taking a different approach entirely: I'm setting a theme for 2019.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJOJqO65UQarVNMiGj3IZsWcvJ7VLAbcBIqxdWEgX40kd-8hUYbLiZ91WoM-cduBWaW9JOfnqohZH4llMUSZ5CALSKpXLjlqBtm-npKcZMzQhyO0pRQXtc71WNEOwBeM9qSxWoJtSbcJJ/s1600/1.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJOJqO65UQarVNMiGj3IZsWcvJ7VLAbcBIqxdWEgX40kd-8hUYbLiZ91WoM-cduBWaW9JOfnqohZH4llMUSZ5CALSKpXLjlqBtm-npKcZMzQhyO0pRQXtc71WNEOwBeM9qSxWoJtSbcJJ/s72-c/1.jpg
Health and Fitness
https://health.dearjulius.com/2019/01/why-you-should-make-new-years-theme.html
https://health.dearjulius.com/
https://health.dearjulius.com/
https://health.dearjulius.com/2019/01/why-you-should-make-new-years-theme.html
true
3134246339347060015
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Read More Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share to a social network STEP 2: Click the link on your social network Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy Table of Content