2019 Anti-Resolutions

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Like everyone else… I’m sitting here with great intentions and high hopes for a great 2019 but to be honest, 2019 is already off to a daunting start. It will be nothing short of chaos & madness and if there’s only one thing I quickly learned towards the end of 2018 was that having 1 kid was sooooooo easy… I mean what was I thinking? Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely so grateful to have 2 healthy girls in my life, but I have turned slightly into a mad woman at this point.

Sure, I’m still currently in my postnatal period, and once Colette starts sleeping through the night I might feel “normal” again.  But, I can’t help but realize that this is the new norm for me which got me thinking… I don’t want to start 2019 with an overambitious list of things that I know within a few months (or even weeks), I would abandon. The last thing I need at this point in my life is another list of things to do!

A lot of times, we create these goals that sound nice & fluffy from the exterior but on the inside, it’s not conducive to our current lifestyle. So unless you’re prepared to go through a major revamp, your goals most likely won’t see the light of day! So instead of setting myself up for unreasonable expectations, I’m trying to identify what the main overarching goal is and see how I can implement that into my current lifestyle.

For example, I would’ve probably written to “go to gym 2-3 times a week and lose all the pregnancy weight,” but with all the changes happening in my life… I would be lucky if I was able to even get to the gym twice a month. I’m a working mom so I already wish I had more time to spend with my family so sacrificing a few more hours during the day to reach my fitness goal is already conflicting with my working mom life and most likely not going to happen. Instead, I decided to go on what I call “family walks” 2 times a week. Whether it be around the block or an actual hike… this is quality time that I could spend with my family while getting some cardio in.

Another example is instead of focusing on all the things I want to change in my life this year, I want to add “white space” into my life so I can actually have time to be truly creative and reconnect with myself. I took a few social media breaks in 2018 and one of the things I quickly learned is that if you want to truly connect with yourself… you’ve got to disconnect from all the noise. So instead of my goal being “having more ME time” which is a goal I usually have written down, I will “disconnect and sign off on social media so I can cut out all the noise and connect with my own self.”

Anyone that knows me personally will tell you that I’m an overachiever, go-getter, and overly ambitious. Don’t worry, my ambition is here to stay, but what I realize every year is that it’s better to focus on small daily habits as opposed to overarching large resolutions that live in the clouds. Small daily habits have a compounding effect that always amounts to something far greater than expected. So this year it’s all about ANTI-RESOLUTIONS for me and creating small effective daily habits.

So here’s what my ANTI-RESOLUTION list looks like:

My Anti-Gym Resolution-
Going on family walks twice a week with some weights on (most likely it will be Colette attached to my body which is already an added 13 lbs!)

My Anti-Book Resolution –
Listen to more audiobooks and podcasts. (This is more conducive to my lifestyle with my long commute. As much as I love books, who has time to actually read in silence once you have kids?)

My Anti-Social Resolution-
Disconnect from social media and enjoy reconnecting with myself by doing nothing.

My Anti-Overstimulated Mom Resolution-
Shut off the phones, TV and all electronic devices for and spend 30 mins – 1 hour every day doing something super fun & engaging with the girls before bedtime.

My Anti-Spending Resolution –
Don’t drink Starbucks every day and bring your own lunch to work.

What are your anti-resolutions this year?

Photography by Karla Ticas | Hair & Makeup by Alison Christian (Website / Instagram)
Sunglasses: Blanc & Eclare | Scarf: Longchamp | Robe: Natori