#MicroblogMondays 70: Resolutions

by Mel

28 comments

1 Jessica { 12.28.15 at 6:02 am }

My resolution is to find my new set of values for 2016.

2 Catwoman73 { 12.28.15 at 6:09 am }

No resolutions for me. We have made some pretty big changes already with respect to how we handle our finances, and I’m pretty happy with where we are right now. I do need to get my eating and exercise habits back on track after the holidays, though- not so much a resolution as it is a commitment to get back to what has already been working for me. It’s really tough to stay on track during the holidays.

3 anks { 12.28.15 at 6:42 am }

Oh yes.. We are in the self help culture… the constant need to improve change and keep stressing in deeply ingrained into us.

4 a { 12.28.15 at 8:27 am }

It makes my husband CRAZY that I feel no need to set goals or make changes just for the sake of making changes. If he would spend some time looking inward, he would realize that my complete commitment to stability is what he actually likes best about me.

I have no resolutions, as usual. If an opportunity comes along, I will take it, as usual.

5 35jupiterdrive { 12.28.15 at 8:41 am }

I like the word resolution because it makes me think of a proclamation:
BE IT RESOLVED that …..

I’m still working on what I want resolved this year, but it’s basically 3 things, things I’d work on anyway. So not so much that I need fixing. But that I want something in my life that isn’t there now, or that I want to give more focus or time to something that I haven’t been able to before this for one reason or another. I like goal setting, even if I don’t hit all the little bull’s eyes. 🙂

6 Sharon { 12.28.15 at 9:52 am }

I have not made a New Year’s resolution since January 2011. My twin sons were born in January 2012, and I feel like I’ve been in survival mode pretty much ever since. Just trying to make it through each day as it comes does not leave a lot of time/energy/motivation for self-improvement.

2016 promises to be more of the same

7 Isabelle { 12.28.15 at 9:53 am }

I haven’t thought about resolution and don’t think I need one. I just want to make a baby.

8 Nicoleandmaggie { 12.28.15 at 10:12 am }

I wonder if this is the year of anti resolutions. What now also had a post on stopping worrying so much about self help. http://whatnow.typepad.com/whatnow/2015/12/lowering-the-stakes.html

9 Sara { 12.28.15 at 10:34 am }

I have not made any resolutions for 2016, I do keep thinking I need to come up with something, so I signed up for a half marathon in April. I started running again in May of 2015 and ran two half marathons this past fall and just want to continue running so not a resolution just a goal to continue working toward.

10 nonsequiturchica { 12.28.15 at 11:02 am }

I sometimes make resolutions but find that especially with the weight loss resolutions, I often fail. Last year my resolution was to send an actual card for my good friend’s birthdays instead of just writing Happy Birthday on FB. I succeeded for every friend except for two. I think that I will continue it this year!

11 jjiraffe { 12.28.15 at 11:05 am }

I could not agree with you more about the non stop self help culture. I wish we all focused more on things we can DO as opposed to things we can change. I love that you set a goal for yourself to achieve (as opposed to something to change about yourself) and you did it!! You rock.

12 Lavonne @ *Our Wish* { 12.28.15 at 12:41 pm }

My resolution for 2016.

To get pregnant. And if I don’t get pregnant, not let it totally destroy me. We are pursuing our “last option” of sorts using donor eggs. Trying to remember it will all be as it is intended to be.

13 Ann Z { 12.28.15 at 1:20 pm }

This past year was the first time in years that I set a resolution that could be easily quantifiable, and followed-through with it. I resolved to train and test for the next belt level in Aikido (something I hadn’t done in 19 years), and on Dec. 12, I actually did it. I feel really good that I did it, and I think setting the resolution made a difference in pushing me to do something I’d been wanting to do. So I want to have a resolution again this year – something that I have wanted to do and need that push, but I’m not sure what. I could phone it in and resolve to test again in Aikido, but that seems like cheating some how. Maybe I’ll resolve to get all of our passports this year? That’s something I’ve been meaning to do. Or finish writing and publish the glossary section of my blog.

14 Traci York { 12.28.15 at 1:23 pm }

I wrote about resolutions today as well (kinda). I like what Neil Gaiman had to say about making mistakes (so much so that I turned it into a graphic for today’s post). This is the text –

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.” ~ Neil Gaiman, 2011

15 Jess { 12.28.15 at 1:27 pm }

I don’t really do resolutions so much, but more things I’d like to accomplish. Resolutions fail so often because once February hits the fervor starts to wane, and I feel like when I used to make bona fide resolutions, they were things that weren’t necessarily realistic but I was feeling ambitious at the holiday. I think for me, things I’d like to accomplished are being more organized, spending less fruitless time on facebook (probably the “fruitless” is unnecessary), trying to live with less stuff. Those are things I have at least a little control over. 🙂

16 Cristy { 12.28.15 at 2:05 pm }

I love your take on the self-help culture and the need to make resolutions to address this. It’s very true. I also think another element at play is change. Throughout our lives we face change, yet so many people are resistant to it to almost an unhealthy extreme. There was a recent study that showed most Americans live within 25 miles of their mothers (http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/20720.aspx). That’s saying a lot. So I think the other element is that resolutions can also give people a much needed kick in the butt to address something they wouldn’t otherwise.

Our goal last year of relocating was met in spades (and with a lot of chaos). The goal this year is to settle and push for continue progress towards the long term goals. And if possible, I’d love to learn to sew

17 JustHeather { 12.28.15 at 2:34 pm }

No resolutions here.

18 Cassie Dash { 12.28.15 at 3:17 pm }

I took a hiatus from resolutions for a few years because, at the end of the year, I often felt like a failure as I realized I’d failed at my resolution. The last couple of years, though, I’ve gone back to making resolutions because I do think it’s a good thing to always be working towards improving oneself. My belief is that it’s possible to love ourselves and be happy with who we are while also recognizing that there is always room for improvement and striving for that.

This year, my resolution is rather simple and general. I just want to work towards making myself a better version of myself. I want to eat a little better. Work out a little more. Spend a little less money. Be a kinder, more patient, wife and mother. Do something to be a better friend. When I stand at the end of 2016, I just want to know that I’m better, even if in only very small ways, than I was at the start of the year. Here’s hoping it won’t be that hard!

19 Amber { 12.28.15 at 4:04 pm }

I haven’t ever been real big on making New Year’s resolutions. However, there are definitely things I want to work on. They just aren’t tied into New Years.
1. The cliche of losing weight. That’s not a goal I’ve ever set before, but is definitely something I need to do for my own health right now.
2. To downsize our “stuff.”
3. Pay off my car so we have zero debt and build up a down payment to buy a house.

20 Lori Lavender Luz { 12.28.15 at 4:08 pm }

Congrats to you. So proud of you.

I am continually riding the wave between self-improvement and self-acceptance. The more time I’m on the planet, the more heavily I weight the latter.

I’m going to continue with my goal of butt-in-seat at the pace that works for me. And then do my best and be happy about it.

21 Lori Lavender Luz { 12.28.15 at 4:09 pm }

Ha! I just looked back at what I said in this space last year, and I guess I did a good job!

22 Ryan { 12.28.15 at 6:37 pm }

I think I’ve chosen an attainable goal: to write more consistently.

23 Charlotte { 12.28.15 at 7:07 pm }

I never make resolutions. I won’t keep them so I stopped trying. If there are things I want to accomplish I work on them in the moment for as long as they are relevant, not because the year changing told me so. It’s just one more thing to feel bad about yourself for, when you “break” your resolution or can’t keep them for whatever million reasons.

24 Parul { 12.28.15 at 9:59 pm }

I used to make resolutions long time back. Then I realized how many can I aim to possible achieve by the end of the year and decided to theme out my areas of focus. Health is my top one and then it’s personal learning, staying calm and positive, looking at brighter side of things. I feel a 30 item list may just remain a list of goals.

25 Middle Girl { 12.28.15 at 10:09 pm }

I have begun to embrace the word, resolve. And so, I will make at least one reolution, to try to finish any one of the projects and / or goals set the last three or so years.

It has been difficult staying on task, for sure.

26 Mali { 12.29.15 at 12:56 am }

I’m not really feeling enthusiastic enough about resolutions. I’d like to be more committed at everything I try. Maybe that will be my resolution this year.

27 SRB { 12.29.15 at 7:36 am }

I don’t think there is anything wrong with resolutions or self-help, if the person engaged in those things is getting something out of it. I like to make resolutions. I like the idea of the New Year as being a time for reflection and thinking about things I want to work toward. Something I would like to finish, a skill I would like to improve on, etc. So while I will keep my *gasp* self-improvement goals to myself in this space, I resolve to finish working on the sweater I started in August and get over my fear of short rows.

28 virignia { 01.01.16 at 12:47 pm }

I haven’t made resolutions for years. I used to thinkit would be a good thing to have goals, it would give me a focus and a drive, but now I think it’s not so bad, then I just take life as it comes.