For years now, around January 1st of each year, I've been creating a list of goals that I want to acccomplish in that year. Not resolutions, but goals. If people ask why not resolutions, I see them as two entirely different things. It seems that resolutions are made to be broken. People want to lose weight - they start Jan 1st and by the 2nd week or even sooner, they have broken that resolution. And as you go down the list, one after another is forgotten and over.
But with goals, these are accomplishments I really want to complete. Yes, yes, I know, you really want to lose that weight, too. But still, resolution almost seems to scream, stop doing this!!! I don't want to do this anymore!!! But the goals I set for myself are activities, accomplishments, goals that I really want to do and mostly I enjoy doing them. Why would I set goals for myself that I just don't want to complete and that I find painful just thinking about doing them?
So, as 2025 was looming ahead, I started working on my goals, in December. Do some of the same goals appear from year to year? Yes, they do. Not because I don't want to do them but because I allow myself to remain flexible and as the year progresses, something might interfere with a goal I had set for myself. And that's ok. So, if it is really important to me, something I really want to do in my life, then I will add it to the next year until I can cross it off. Or if it is something like, losing a few pounds, then it will stay on my list, year after year, even once I get to my target weight. Just as a reminder to stay on track, eat right, stop eating foods that aren't good for me, etc.
This is my recommendation for all of you who are laboriously writing down those resolutions that you know you will be quitting after a week or two. Try writing goals instead. I think you'll like how flexible they can be.