No, I’m not joking. You read that right. Today, I’m not going to talk about my resolutions for 2018. I’ve realised for the past few years that New Year’s resolutions don’t work with me. And I’m not even talking about start working on my goals in January and by February forgot about them, most of the times, I don’t even get to start. I’m lazy and procrastination is my favourite hobby so a list of things to do isn’t a big inspiration to get my a** of the couch.

The entire point of making a New Year’s resolutions is to change habits, to get better at something or change something in your life that isn’t working. But do you really need to write down a list of things to change or do you need to change them? It was Allen Sauders (and John Lennon) that said

Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.

So why plan? Why write down a list of things to change? How about discovering the next step in your life and concentrate on that? 2017 is over we are already leaving in 2018 and nothing has changed. The days are the same, the weather is still crazy, our lives are the same, we just write a different number. So why limit our individual changes to a list made on the first day of the year? I’m sure by the end of it your thoughts will be different, your mind will be focusing on different problems. It’s better to focus on a problem at a time. If I want to travel more today is a great day do see prices, plan a trip, gather a group of friends… Or if I want to lose that extra weight today is the best day to workout. Or maybe to get into yoga or meditation. The only thing that can stop ourselves are the limitations that we put in ourselves – this is a quote from Napoleon Hill.

Last year, I wrote a New Years resolution post. Only in September when I was changing my former blog to this one, I discover I had done those resolutions. And I kept that post just to remember myself to revisit it one year after. I made 8 resolutions and accomplish 3-ish of them. Reading back what I wrote at the beginning of the year, gives me a perspective that I would not have another way. What my past-self thought is just written there word by word and the most amazing thing is that thoughts that I have right now I had also a year ago but I don’t have that perception of passing that much time. For me are just ideas that I had in the past months, but maybe they are in my mind long before that.

Getting organized

For sure I didn’t accomplish this one. I would probably have a good week and would plan out all the days but it wasn’t a constant. I did buy a notebook to act as my daily planner – more like a to-do list actually. That didn’t stick for long. More recently, I’ve discovered To-Doist. It’s a great app but I never remember to use it or to cross off what I’ve already accomplished. Using Google Calendar and To-Doist is a great combination to keep your head in the place. Although since it still isn’t a habit is hard to keep organized. I think it’s important to keep our mind organized but is most important is to have things done.

Start working out & eating more healthy

Like many other people that do this type of resolutions, I’m not fat or overweight. I never was. Although in the past year or year and a half I gained some unwanted weight. Just a few kilos nothing much but they are bothering me. For years I’ve kept the same weigh and now the number has changed. I did not get higher or anything like that, my body is lacking any kind of sport. Until today this is something that is still bothering me and clearly having the solution as a New Year resolution did nothing.

Read 1 more book than last year

I find it amazing how I innocently said: «I want to read more and instead of wishing to read 30 books throughout the year I rather read one more than last year». I thought that reaching the 30 books mark was good and looking back at my Goodreads I can see why. In 2016 I read a total of 11 books, so jumping to 30 would be a big step. Although I read 52 including mangas and comic books. So I not only read 1 more book than in 2016 I even pass by my ambitious expectations for 2017. Making this one the only goal I accomplish without a dough.

Creating a reading journal

Now here is where the -ish accomplished resolutions start. If we look at this resolution as to what I wrote, I did accomplish this goal. I, in fact, created a reading journal out of scratch and even started to use it. Although… I only wrote about one book. When I have something to write down that is itching my brain, I usually write it down, either on Evernote or on a piece of paper, either if it will be going to be a blog post or just a lost thought. I feel I have failed this goal since I’ve been reading and not using it anymore. Just yesterday, I thought about picking it up and start writing again, but the moment got away. Also if I’m reading multiple books at once I will have thoughts about Book A mixed with thoughts about Book B and that isn’t what I want the journal to be. I want to be able to go back a few years from now and see in a thread all my thoughts on each page about the book.

Keep a schedule for the blog & use more social media

This is something I will keep struggling. Maybe I’m not in the mod or the post is not good enough and I will miss a day or two. The same is valid for my social media. I keep a note on the back of my head to upload a new photo on Instagram, to schedule posts, to keep the profile active, but I always forget. These are things that should be taken easy. If I keep pushing I will end up not enjoying, getting frustrated and possibly even give up because it goes from a happy place to a stressful one.

Increase the traffic on the blog

I did accomplish this resolution, but not on the scale I wanted to be. Either if I like it or not social media has a big influence when it comes to generating traffic to a blog or a website. It’s all about putting yourself out there and promote. If you keep still in the corner of the room don’t expect people to notice you. You have to talk, to interact, to get to know other people, and primarily you have to invest time. When I started to use To-Doist I set a chore to comment on someone’s blog every day. That could be people I follow or new people. The idea was to show myself, to say I’m here. But that takes time, to read other posts, to discover new people and by the end of the day, I would prefer to watch Tv. So I know that my stats could be better, but again it can’t be something that I force myself to do.

So basically, all of the things that went wrong are reasons to not do resolutions this year. I will always have projects, things to change in my life, that I don’t need to pressure myself to do them. Having a list of things that my past-self wanted to accomplish in 2017 and failed are just a reminder that I fail. I don’t feel bad about it, but it isn’t a moment of proud either. If this list did me no good for last year, what makes me think that it will in 2018? Maybe then I should add another resolution: stick to the New Years resolution list. What is the point? The problem still needs to be solved. And instead of being here talking and moaning about what I didn’t do and what should have been done is better is I log off and do what I have to do. No matter what it is, screw the lists and make it happen.