My Facebook is currently a running list of hundreds upon hundreds of New Year’s Resolutions.
For the last few days, I’ve trudged my way through pledges to getting fit, learning French, losing weight, finding God – of many variations – learning guitar, falling in love, growing vegetables, Tweeting less, reading more, and mastering the art of Giant Knitting (you’ll have to look that one up).
It’s exhausting.
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I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love a fresh start as much as anyone.
I’m the queen of announcing that I’m never drinking again (whilst battling a hangover), training for a marathon (after bikini shopping), or giving myself a budget (after dropping $650 in the Sheridan outlet store).
Nothing makes me feel better than big, fat, bold, public declarations of self-improvement. It’s half the battle.
So, an idea: keep your New Year’s Resolution on the down-low.
Keep it tucked away in a pocket that no one will find.
Write it down, look at it every night. Chip away at it. Write a game plan. Lean into it and appreciate that you are the only person watching.
And if you don’t succeed? Then you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone.
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Your New Year’s Resolution failure will be private viewing for your bruised ego only.
No snarky comments or ‘I told you so’s’: just you, a goal, and a whole other year to make it happen. Instead of revealing your bare bottomed shortcomings to 3,892 of your *closest friends* online, it will be your own story to tell.
After all, it takes a few goes to get those goals in check.
Maybe it takes a few different French classes before you learn your croissant from your concombre. Maybe you can only nail 2km runs for a few months. And goddammit, I’m more than sure Giant Knitting isn’t going to be a walk in the park for the first couple of attempts.
However, if you do happen to succeed, you can fling open the curtains on stage and sing it loud and proud without anyone expecting it.
“Je peux parler français!” you can shout into their shocked faces, as you stretch after a 25km run wearing a Giant Knitted scarf you made yourself.
Give yourself the space to fail, and you might just figure out the best performance of all.