Jonno

New Year’s Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone and it’s that time of year when we all decide to change our lives for the better. Compiling a list of actions to improve our lives is almost a rule at the beginning of a new year. This isn’t just a new year of course though, it’s a new decade isn’t it? So a bigger list perhaps?

A New Year’s resolution is a tradition where a person resolves to change a personal behaviour or trait, accomplish a personal goal, or somehow improve their life.

We’ve all done it haven’t we? Drawn up long to-do lists of all of those things that we ‘really’ want to do. And to be brutally honest most of us have failed to stick to the majority of items on that list. Apparently, according to some top-notch survey, less than 50% of people that resolvesomething at New Year stick to their list. Perhaps their lists are too long and they should just concentrate on one thing?

Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions

These are the ten most popular resolutions that we make at the beginning of every single year.

  1. Lose weight
  2. Learn a new skill or hobby
  3. Exercise more
  4. Live life to the fullest
  5. Save more money
  6. Become more organised
  7. Stop smoking
  8. Spend more time with family and friends
  9. Travel more
  10. Read more books

I haven’t resolved to do all of these but over the years quite a few have cropped up in things I’ve wanted to improve in the year ahead. It always seems like ‘losing weight’ and ‘exercising more’ are the most obvious and heavily taken up when you see so many people jogging or joining the gym in January every year. Not sure how many are still exercising come February though.

JWalking Resolutions

We have never been ones for specific resolutions on January 1st as we have always felt that if we need to change or need a goal then that can happen at any time on any day. The date changing from December 31st to January 1st doesn’t actually change anything for us, apart from my finances spreadsheet of course (geek).

We haven’t really discussed resolutions this year at all. Often we’ll ask each other what we’d like to achieve or if there is anywhere specific we would like to go but we now know each other so well that those questions are always ongoing.  But we do have a few resolutions I guess, some of which are ever-present ………..

  • Seeing our boys more often
  • Visiting our friends Eva and Ottmar in Austria
  • Deciding once and for all if we are going to return to New Zealand at some stage
  • Watching more live cricket
  • Plan a long English canal walk
  • Visit yet another Christmas market
  • Teach Jon how to cook 
  • Finish planning and book our big trip of the year
  • Dance

Any others we should add to our list? Sensible and silly ideas welcome.

Our Resolution History

In the past we have been caught up in the whole resolution business and often announced that we would be doing something differently just because the calendar had changed. I don’t think any of these hastily thought out ideas lasted very long or changed our lives but I suppose we did consider it a bit didn’t we? So a few changes we were definitely making were;

  • Learn to Juggle
  • Start Ballroom Dancing
  • Go jogging every day
  • Eat more healthily 
  • Swim every morning
  • Learn all 50 US States
  • Listen to a brand new song every day
  • Learn the words to the rudest poem ever, Eskimo Nell

(most of these were mine obviously, especially the last one, as Jo is pretty perfect the way she is).

Are New Year’s Resolutions pointless?

Absolutely not. A lot of people change aspects of their lives for the better and improve themselves because of the whole resolution list so it can’t be a bad thing. The process is almost always a positive move so again it’s hard to criticise. I think the only flaw is that people have too many changes that makes it impossible to succeed. One or two that really are achievable are much better than a list of 20 far-fetched ideas.

My favourite New Year’s Resolutions

It’s always interesting to hear what others would like to change or improve but my personal favourites are the joke-ones. Here are a few that I really like.

Happy New Year

So our real New Year’s Resolution is to just say ‘Happy New Year‘ to everyone out there and try to continue being happy and healthy throughout the year ahead. If you have made your own resolutions then I hope that you are successful in achieving them.

It was just another day really but one that perhaps made us all step back and consider our lives for a moment. That has to be a good thing doesn’t it? Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?

41 comments

  4. Happy new year to you both. Not resolutions made yet, but I will probably try and set some in the next week or so. I’m yet to decide if I like them or not but I guess we all start out with good intentions and if it makes us reflect more and be more present then I’m all for it

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    • I think you’ve hit the proverbial nail on the head there with it being about good intentions. Nothing wrong with making them at all as long as they are realistic and doable. Always good to have some goals or targets in life isn’t it? Hope your Christmas and New Year travels were amazing?

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  8. My resolution will be 1920×1080!

    Wilde summed it up for me. “Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”

    Happy new year and happy new travels.

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  10. I tend to make more goals than resolutions, so places I want to visit this year etc, goals for my blog. I do 13k steps and I learn Spanish everyday so I try to keep those up, they are more like part of my routine now though!

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  11. Happy New Year to you too – all the best for a happy and healthy 2020! I made too many resolutions last year so didn’t achieve them all… this year I’ve made fewer and hopefully more realistic ones too! But if I only achieve some of them at least I’ve hopefully made some improvements to my life…

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  13. A belated happy new year to you both. Loved your resolution about watching more live cricket. That’s also one of mine! I’m looking to head out to Melbourne in October to visit my son and watch a few T20 World Cup games. It has to be done😜

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    • Excellent, Melbourne will be a great trip and even better to watch some T20. Sounds really exciting. Hope you had a great trip to Brighton Liz, Happy New Year.

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  17. Happy new year! I’m a little late to the party, but absolutely loved your post. I really like the fact your resolutions are different and specific to you both rather than the generic ones we always seem to set ourselves.

    I’ve made a few resolutions myself – quite a few of them stereotypical ones – but fingers crossed I stick to them. So far so good!

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    • Thanks Katie. Best to make a few plans that are specific as they are doable aren’t they? Some of those generic ones are a little woolly and vague I think. Good luck with yours.

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  18. Happy new year to you too Jonno! I love the lists and those memes say it all! I tend to have a word each year which helps me stay on track. This year it’s JUMP so I’ll be jumping all over the place which should keep me fit and healthy 🙂 . All the best to you and Jo.

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  19. I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, thinking that changes can be made at another time of year, and that they take more thought and time than simply the New Year crossover. Happy New Year and decade to you and the family.

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