Voices: What I’ve learnt from all my failed new year’s resolutions
Voices: What I’ve learnt from all my failed new year’s resolutions
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The goals I set myself – from daily yoga to learning rock-climbing – never go to plan. But they have taught me a wealth of new, sometimes pointless, skills. I like a challenge. So what better way to push myself than at the start of the new year with wholly ridiculous resolutions?.
One year at university, I randomly decided I’d practice yoga every day for 12 months without ever having tried yoga before – very ambitious. Last year, I promised myself I’d go bouldering every single Thursday... indefinitely. And of course, for the past two years, I’ve attempted to have a plant-based diet for the month of January, knowing I love cheese more than most things in this life. Needless to say, all my grandiose new year’s resolutions have been a tremendous flop.
Every year, I essentially set myself up for failure. Normally I feel exceptionally guilty about how much of a slob I’ve become during December and try to rectify it by attempting resolutions that are ambitious at best and delusional at worst. Yes, my resolutions never go to plan, but they have taught me a wealth of new, sometimes pointless, skills. I’m often too hard on myself and forget all the days I did actually stick to my challenges and what I’d gained from them. For someone with a lactose addiction, I lasted 27 whole days as a vegan, yet I was more upset about the four days that I didn’t manage. Although I failed at Veganuary the first time around, I stuck at it and did it again, learning from my mistakes. I went from cluelessly sustaining myself on Linda McCartney sausages and nuts to becoming an accomplished vegan cook.
