This year, I’m not going to make any resolutions. In previous years I’ve written about this and why I think New Year’s resolutions are Bollox.
However, if you’re like me, you love lists and that inner desire to keep learning, growing, letting go of what no longer serves you, and generally living a better life.
What I don’t like about resolutions is that they are definitive, measurable and just plain difficult. I often feel depressed and like I’ve let myself down when I fail to achieve the lofty goals I set for myself.
Tough Resolutions for Your Skin and Allergies
When you make resolutions like this, you’re almost setting yourself up for failure, or at least making life harder. Especially if you live in restrictive conditions and don’t have as many spoons as others. Here are some examples of difficult cases:
- Do yoga every day because it really helps my breathing, anxiety, and well-being.
- Eat only clean, low-inflammatory foods, no processed foods and no alcohol
- Get up an hour earlier each day to keep a gratitude journal, set intentions, take a walk
This all sounds great, but if you write that you will try to do this every day, you will probably fail. If you CAN maintain a star commitment done well, you’re more motivated than many of us.
Measurable goals are great, especially in business, but our lives are neither machines nor organizations. We are human beings, not human actions, and we need to spend more time being humans rather than doing things. I forget who coined this phrase but I love it and it always sticks in my memory.
Setting Intentions for Your Skin and Allergies
Give yourself more grace, more acceptance, and more peace this year, here are some different ideas for setting intentions, rather than difficult goals.
- I will try to move more, get out in nature more, and find time to practice yoga for breathing, yin yoga, and strength yoga.
- I will continue to plan to meet other people at parkrun (it makes me more accountable and more likely to go) and I will continue to do bootcamp. If you already have good habits in place, set an intention to continue implementing them when you can.
- If my skin, asthma or allergies are really affecting me, I will give myself some time to rest, relax and recover from the stresses of daily life. Spending time doing nothing is underrated.
- I will continue to declutter because it brings me so much joy, pleasure, and more space to enjoy my home.
- I will choose a factual book or podcast each month and learn something about a topic that interests me.
- I will continue to explore more plant-based foods, choosing new and different colors and incorporating whole, local, organic foods into my diet when I can.
- STOP apologizing for my skin, my allergies, how it’s an inconvenience and instead “own it” and be confident, proud and in control.
- Continue to journal when I can, color when I’m stressed, and just relax and breathe when it’s all too much.
- Keep loving my blog and keep blogging for fun – no setting goals…just keep doing my little thing
I know these may seem vaguer than traditional resolutions, but give yourself a break. What if you were already brilliant and doing what you could? It’s okay to have intentions that create more space, peace, and calm in your life.
Making intentions work
By setting intentions, even very small steps become a victory. You can break them down into smaller goals and hopefully it will be easier for you to stick to them. This allows you to have weeks where you might not get much done, but you know you’ll do it again the following week.
Intentions can also be the idea of stopping doing certain things if you know they aren’t helping you. I love this idea:
- Get started – this is the resolutions part – what are you going to do to be awesome?
- Keep going – what are you already doing that you love? it really helps your mental health etc. Continue to apply these best practices.
- Stop – anything that hurts you, doesn’t fill you with joy, makes you feel bad. Easier said than done, I know some things, so get help and support if you need it.
This also means that if you’re craving chocolate, you haven’t failed if you give in to those cravings. If you have a sweet tooth, you can explore different healthier sources such as maple syrup, dates, coconut sugar, etc. As you probably know, normal sugar is highly processed and can exacerbate inflammation in people susceptible to skin conditions and eczema.
You can also find “Ditch Resolutions: Make Intentions Instead” and “Set Intentions, Not Just Resolutions.”
The positive gratitude jar
I’ve done it before and I’m going to do it again this year. Get a jar, box, or even a bag and write Positivity Jar on a label on the outside. Have fun, you can label it as anything… Magic, Gratitude, anything. Then write down on a piece of paper every time something wonderful happens. This can range from finding a trait of Jay’s to achieving a goal or target. It can be a big or small accomplishment, but make it something that brings you joy. Then, in the New Year, make yourself comfortable, grab a blanket and sit with your potty. Take out the pieces of paper and read what you have written. It’s a really comforting exercise. Likewise, I do this by reviewing my journal (Passion Planner) at the end of each year.
I would love to know your thoughts. Have you set any resolutions? Or have you abandoned them?
Finally, I love everyone else’s resolution posts. Check out Micki Rose’s Change one thing series for inspiration that won’t take too much time, effort and struggle.
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