This isn’t a blog for me to brag about how great I am doing, and the intention I speak of isn’t meant to make anyone feel like they are doing the new year wrong, or failing. So bear with me as I try to define what I mean when I say out with the resolutions and in with the intentions. I’m trying to start 2024 with more intention. With every new year I have goals. Work goals of things my boss wants me to achieve. Personal goals such as how many books I want to read, find a better job etc. For many people this includes things like new year diets, or joining the gym. I am very broke right now, and have been for the last few months, so you won’t be hearing any of that from me. Also, like I said at the start, this is about my intentions for the new year, and I’m not here to shame anyone into feeling like they shouldn’t have eaten, drunk or been merry over the festive period, I sure as shit was, so I’m not about to tell anyone else how to live their lives.
When I say I want to start the year with more intention I just mean that it’s easy to set goals and then not see them through. I saw a great meme the other day saying that all gyms should only open as a gym in January and then turn into a bar from February onwards, because by then everyone who signed up in January has stopped going. Last year my work goals were set by my then manager, and by April I had a new manager who not only didn’t help me to achieve any of those goals, but actively worked against me in getting to those goals. So by the end of the year I felt like crap because I hadn’t achieved what I was set to do at the start of the year, but also by allowing my new manager to change the goalposts I was compliant in my own downfall. No pay rise or bonus is what is on the cards for me, and while this might be right if I didn’t achieve my goals, it isn’t right if I had no way of achieving those goals. So this year I want to make sure that doesn’t happen. I don’t want to set meaningless goals and then lose momentum in achieving them. That goes for work, and for my personal goals too.
So I’m not going to set something unrealistic and unachievable which will just make me feel bad. I’ve set small goals. For January I have set myself a goal of getting outside everyday for at least 15 minutes. Come rain or shine. There were days last year (sometimes several in a row) when I wouldn’t leave my flat. It’s really easy, especially at this time of year when it’s cold and wet out, to just want to hibernate and hunker down under a mountain of blankets and not want to move. It’s definitely added to my feelings of depression and isolation, and it’s probably added to my general feeling of being unhealthy and unfit. I tried twice last year to do the couch to 5k challenge. The first time I got to week 3 and then had a holiday and Covid in quick succession, and I ended up giving up because I didn’t feel like I could pick up where I left off after not running for several weeks. I then tried again a few months later and had a really bad flare up of my plantar fasciitis in week 2, and after several weeks of hobbling (just walking on it was nearly impossible), I again gave up. I am trying again for a third time, and two runs into week one I have sliced my foot open on a shower gel bottle. You can’t make this up I swear. But I am determined that even if I cannot run my third run of week 1, I am still going to get out for my 15 minute walk per day. It’s a small and very achievable goal. Which is why I set it. I have a park literally at the end of my road, and the beach is a ten minute walk away. A walk down to the seafront and back will meet my goal, a walk around the park will meet my goal. It’s doable. Even with an injured foot.
I have set another goal via the Storygraph app to read every day in January (but I hope to carry it forward for the whole year). I always set myself the same reading challenge on Goodreads every year, to read 52 books. One per week. And usually I smash it (thanks to my yearly Ghost Story Advent Challenge tbh), but on Storygraph (LadyK23 if you want to follow me there) you can be part of loads of different challenges that they run each year. One such challenge is the January Pages Challenge 2024 which asks you to track at least one page, or one minute or percent of an audiobook every single day in January. Again this is a small goal, one page, or one minute of an audiobook is nothing. It’s absolutely achievable. And so I am taking part.
My third challenge this month is to write every day in my journal or diary. I haven’t bought myself a diary in years as I never wrote in them when I did have them, but this year I was gifted a beautiful journal by my lovely friend Tania, and so I am determined to write in it. Every day. Even if it’s only something mundane such as, today was rainy and I went to the office. It’s a small thing but it’s making me think, hey what did I do today that is worth remembering? And so I come back to the word intention. In order to have something to write about that is worth noting, I need to live with more intention. I need to be more present. I don’t want my life to be a string of rainy days where all I did was go into the office. So I will try and look around more when I go for my daily walks, instead of just being set on my destination. The other day when I did this a couple said good morning to me. I’ve never known anyone do this when it wasn’t Christmas day. And it felt really nice to just be seen, and to say good morning back. It put a big smile on my face. It was a small interaction, but it meant something to me. I look at the squirrels, I say hello to passing doggos, I look up at the trees, and yeah, maybe I’ll get a bird poop landing on me from one of those trees, but at least that will be something noteworthy that happened that day.
I am not calling these new years resolutions, as they are things I’d either like to do for the whole year, or goals I can change-up throughout the year. So maybe as the weather gets better I can change the 15 minute walk to a half an hour walk, or running three times per week, or maybe even going for a sea swim once per week when it gets to summer. I just want the intention to be there to keep going with these goals, and not give up because it gets too hard to keep going. Small achievable goals with the intention to do them will hopefully make for a more fulfilled me. What are your intentions for this coming year? And have you already set any in motion?
Lady K's Musings 
Resolutions are silly, as you know. Commitments to your health, to achieving your goals, and accountability to only yourself is what matters.
With the beach and a park, getting outside is fairly easy. I know on work days, wet days, and/or grey days it can be hard, but just taking a short walk gives you exposure to nature, and chance encounters with other humans —both good things.
Look around, say hello to strangers, and chat with people about insubstantial subjects — you’ll be surprised at how pleasant it is! I find this alleviates my loneliness and always makes me just a bit happier.
Reading is not a race. I read every night before I go to sleep. (And at other times, as well, of course. But the nightly habit never waivers, no matter how busy I might be.) If you have such a habit, reading just IS. I don’t need to track pages read, or books finished. I’d opt for five well-written and interesting books over 100 badly-written ones. And I’m not saying that you are reading bad books, by any means! Just that treating reading as a competition runs counter to the intention of appreciating literature, IMO.
So set aside a bit of time every day to walk in nature, to read, and to write. All told, this is less than an hour of your waking time, at a minimum. Totally doable!
(And as for that job…a discussion for another time!)
Be well, my friend. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2024.
I like having a reading goal or challenge, as otherwise I wouldn’t be so strict on myself to read. I’d get distracted by my phone, what’s on TV etc, whereas having a goal (even if I don’t meet it) gives me a reason to do it. Especially if I haven’t all day and I get to bed and I’m tired, and think oh I won’t bother tonight, and then do that for a week or more, I can easily fall behind. With a prompt to read for 1 minute, even if I’m tired I will think I can do 1 minute. So while I get what you’re saying I find it works for me. By going along with reading challenges where you get certain prompts too, I find it challenges me to read things that I maybe wouldn’t otherwise, which is also good for me. But I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, and your encouragement. Happy new year my dear.