New Year - New You?

Christmas will soon be here and with it the parties, excitement and change of routine.  But it won't be long until we find ourselves back on the treadmill of our normal, every day lives.  Each January, I greet the onslaught of a new year, and the resolutions that go with it, with a mixture of dread and anticipation.  On the one hand I want to make this year special, exciting and positively life changing - I have visions of the new perfect me emerging like the swan in the ugly duckling story.  On the other, I know how many times I’ve tried and failed in the past to improve myself.  I’m sure you know what I mean: the money wasted on joining a gym and giving up after a few weeks; the weight reducing diet that suddenly involves stuffing copious amounts of chocolate, crisps and alcohol down the throat; the savings plan that gets lost in the thrills of shopping for the latest ‘must have’.  So this year, I’ve decided to do it differently.  I’ve decided to make 2008 highly pleasurable, that way I might actually achieve something really beneficial.  So here are my 2008 New Year Resolutions.  Feel free to adapt them for yourself:

1. Pamper Yourself:  Schedule at least 1 luxuriating treatment such as a massage, a fab new haircut/colour or book a weekend away every month to wallow and indulge yourself.  Do not cancel under any circumstance.
2. Have a foodie treat once a week.  For me this will be a HUGE bar of dark chocolate or a cosmopolitan cocktail.  Savour and enjoy each mouthful and make sure you share it with no-one.
3. Do something you love every day.  Walk the dog, chat to friends, read a book, watch your favourite TV show.  The list is endless, the possibilities infinite.
4. Surround yourself with people you like.  Enjoy real laughter and companionship.  Move away from the whinging and moaning of negative people.
5. Smile – a lot.  If you smile at people, they’ll smile back. The world has just become a happier place and it costs you nothing.
6. Have a lie in.  We all work far too many hours.  Slip under the duvet at the weekends and shut out the world.
7. Only buy clothes that make you feel really special.  Forget the ‘ok’s’ and ‘it will have to do’s’.  Like the advert says, “you’re worth it”.
8. Find a hobby that really appeals to you.  Don’t go to the gym if you hate it, do something else instead.  You’ll have far more success if you have enjoyment.
9. Have passion – for your partner, children, friends, family and so on.  If you don’t have passion for something, change it.
10. Take a risk.  We all stay in a rut because we’re scared to have a go.  Make this your year of feeling the fear and doing it anyway.  What have you got to lose if you’re already miserable?  Be curious and observant and detach yourself from the outcome.   You’ll learn lots about yourself.