Is it too late to be talking about new year’s resolutions in the middle of January? I personally don’t think so. If it’s something that you’re going to commit to for a year, it feels like some thought should go into it.

And I love the thought of making resolutions for a new year. A chance for a new beginning. A clean slate on which to write. Make promises to try something different, exciting, daring. Hatch plans. Set goals. Take action. Do stuff.

And there’s a lot to be said for making commitments and setting goals. If you write down what you want to do, you’re more likely to do it. Even better if you say it out loud. To someone else. If you speak things into the universe, they have a habit of happening.

You become accountable.

I should know.

While walking with my best friend last January, I mentioned that I was thinking of….wondering whether I could….potentially….’do’ something with my coaching. Maybe make a business of helping women through coaching. It was a small, (very) unformed thought at the time. She said, “Sounds great. I think you should do it”. And 12 months later, here I am.

Yes.  Stuff happens when you set yourself a goal. Make a resolution. And tell someone about it.

But there can be a downside to resolutions. You can have too many.

I should know.

I’m a list-maker. LOVE a list. I have lists about lists. I love the satisfaction of ticking things off lists. I’ve been known to add stuff to lists when I’ve already done it, just to be able to cross it off.

But I’m also not very realistic about how much time it takes to do things. And I all too often beat myself up if I don’t get stuff ticked off my list(s) quickly enough. There’s only so much time in a day, week, month, year. And I put myself under so much pressure to do ALL the things. ALL at once. And when it gets to the end of the day, week, month, year and I haven’t finished all the stuff that I set out to do, I feel like I’ve failed.

But it turns out that the definition of a resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something”.

….or not to do….  Interesting.

So, time for a new year’s resolution revolution.

This year, I’m deciding to have just one resolution, and it’s one where I’m not going to do something. I’m not going to beat myself up about stuff that I haven’t done.

Instead, I’m going to take time to celebrate the things that I have done. Congratulate myself for the things that I am doing.  Praise progress. However small. Because setting goals is great. Achieving them is even better.

Will I stick to my revolutionary resolution? Time will tell.

But it feels doable.

What’s your revolution for resolutions this new year?