It’s that time of the year again. You know what I’m talking about. That time of the year when your news feed is saturated with the hash tag New Year new me crap. I’m not pointing fingers cause lord knows mine are dirty but after 24 or so years of setting unrealistic goals I decided to re-evaluate my approach this year.
As someone who’s always chasing a goal of some sort setting new years resolutions used to be my favorite activity until I quickly realised that no matter how many of these resolutions/goals I met during the year. I was never truly satisfied, almost like an unquenchable thirst. So this year I decided my resolutions list was going to be a little more ‘soulful’ to meet basic wellbeing requirements instead.
After doing some soul searching with a bottle of Jameson I came up with the following new years resolutions list:
- Take time to reflect on your mistakes and accomplishments and yes the mistakes do involve drunk dialing your ex on a Friday evening after a few too many beers.
- Don’t take shit too seriously. Unless you end up seeing a member from a well-known street gang in Merida, Mexico like I did while I was travelling.
- Allow yourself to take some shitty time-out when you need it. We live in a day and age where everyone is talking about using your free time ‘wisely’ and spending it doing yoga or meditation. Sometimes a girl just needs a good night in with a bottle of red and her favorite Netflix show to heal mentally. So don’t beat yourself up if you end up coming home from work and spend a few hours binge watching your favorite show like an addict.
- Conserve your energy. I realised a lot of my time last year was spent validating the reasons behind some of my actions to people around me. Yes I cared and still continue to care for these individuals but it got mentally exhausting giving them a reason for my actions. It doesn’t bloody matter if you decide you don’t want to go to the movies anymore because you’ve had a long week. Just say no and leave it at that. No need to appease your audience.
- Learn how to tell yourself to eat some cement and harden the f*ck up. But in a gentle manner. I know mental health is not a joke, nor is it something that can be resolved instantly. But at some point late last year I got tired of playing the role of the victim to my anxiety and depression. So I slowly started working towards changing my internal narrative, from ‘I can’t do this anymore’ to ‘You’ve got this, don’t dwell on it just do it’.
- Celebrate the little wins along the way not just the big ones because sometimes having a productive Saturday morning is reason enough to celebrate.
- Be kind to yourself and know when to draw a line in the sand. Sometimes we come across situations and people that push us to the absolute brink of insanity. When shit hits the fan and you aren’t tall enough to get up there and clean it just call it quits. Doesn’t make you a sore loser, it makes you human.
I could keep going on and on but I’ve got a sudden craving for homemade brownies and we all know the kitchen is not going to set itself on fire.
Strategic Chaos 