New Year's resolutions are a burden I don't want to carry

I might be one of the first to say it, but I hate New Year’s resolutions (and I will stand by this statement for the rest of time).

As someone who loves to plan ahead (being spontaneous is not for me), I surprise myself with just how much I cannot stand them.

Many see it as a way of new beginnings and motivational goals to achieve for the next 365 days of the year from January 1, but for me, I think they are a burden and a weight I don’t want to carry around.

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I think we all go about our daily lives without realising how much pressure we put ourselves under already, whether that’s ticking off household jobs, buying a house, starting a family or wanting to climb up the career ladder.

And personally, I don’t want or need any more ideas to force myself to accomplish and I refuse to beat myself up over unrealistic decisions I have made up in my head.

As someone who doesn’t cope well when things don’t go to plan (which I know is just what happens in life), New Year’s resolutions are just another way to make myself feel like a failure if I can’t tick them off by the time the next new year comes around.

I believe that if you want to start doing something good or stop doing something bad, these are things which will happen naturally throughout the year.

Has a New Year's resolution changed your life? (Image: Getty)

When it comes to New Year resolutions, I do the opposite

Don’t get me wrong, I have tried to make the odd promise to myself but it all just gets too much as the year goes by, often because life is unpredictable and events happen which means I haven’t been able to achieve the things I set out to do.

On New Year’s Eve, I don’t like to look at the future and declare what I won’t eat or what I won’t do for the next 12 months.

Instead, as the clock strikes midnight and the sky lights up with fireworks, I take this moment to look at the year I have left behind in a positive mindset only.

I look back on what I have achieved and how I have changed for the better, whether that’s doing something entirely out of my comfort zone or completing something I never thought I was capable of.

For example, when I look at my life this time last year, I would almost say it’s as if I have walked into an entirely new me, both personally and professionally.

These changes are not what I promised I would do, they just happened because I think life is a roller coaster (thank you, Ronan Keating) and I was just riding it.

I chose these decisions because they were right for me at the time and not on a random December night many months ago.

If your New Year’s resolutions don’t happen, it’s absolutely okay.

We are all trying our best to be better people most of the time and that is enough.