Anti-Resolutions Are The New Resolutions — Here’s Why
Did you set resolutions this year? Maybe you’re a few days deep into your first Whole30 or a new journaling routine. While a new year can be invigorating and inspiring for some, plenty of people struggle with making and keeping resolutions. If you’re part of the latter group, good news: Fast Company recently reported on the idea of anti-resolutions, which “create space for the good stuff” without the pressure of traditional New Year’s resolutions.
Rather than focusing on everything you should be doing with your life, or the things you’re finally going to do this year, anti-resolutions focus on moving away from the self-destructive or self-limiting behaviors you engage in. “Making an anti-resolution list gives you an opportunity to identify some of the ways you’ve been making your own life harder, and then use that awareness to stop doing (at least one of) those things,” personal development coach Kate Hanley says.
An anti-resolutions list is all about taking stock of the things you won’t do this year, which help you get specific about the small things that make up the parts of behaviours you don’t like. The article likens it to lent, where you take one specific thing out of your daily life. Instead of saying “I will keep my home perfectly clean in the new year” say, I won’t leave dishes in the sink overnight, identifying a tangible, more precise behavior is easier to stick to as time goes on.
Oh, and they also fully advocate for starting your anti-resolutions anytime of the year! So if you’re still in post-holiday recovery mode, give yourself sometime to think deeply about what you’d like to accomplish and change and commit to your anti-resolution on your own timetable.
So, what are your anti-resolutions?
More on living your best life in 2018:
h/t Fast Company