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New Year's Resolutions and Why You Don't Feel Good About Yourself

  • Dr. Katie
  • Jan 11, 2019
  • 3 min read

*Affiliate links disclosure: My posts may contain affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won't pay a penny more, but I'll get a small commission, which helps keep the kids fed! Thank you!

I'm not a huge proponent of New Year's resolutions. There I said it. This isn't because I'm not goal-oriented (we'll get into that more later) or because I don't want to improve my life. It's quite the opposite. The problem is that most people give up after a few weeks and then feel terrible about themselves. It sucks not reaching a goal. And who needs more guilt in their lives? Not me.

The problem is that most people create huge, lofty goals that are incredibly difficult to be consistent with or achieve. I for one am an overachiever and live for results. I was recently reading Michelle Obama's new book: Becoming (if you haven't read it, buy it now!).

In her book, she mentioned that she is also an overachiever; one who is driven by results. Her life followed a pattern of effort, results, effort, results. She never really enjoy the moment. She was just always moving onto the next goal for the sake of achieving. I lived my life in a similar way, always striving for something bigger. If I didn't have a goal to work towards, I felt very stagnant and anxious. The problem with this way of life is that 1) it's exhausting, 2) you miss the journey AND the destination because you're focused on the next big thing, and 3) you're left feeling like you're never good enough.

This year I decided to keep it simple AND give myself a little grace. Something I have NEVER done in my entire life. My first New Year's resolution was simple: I wanted to just fall back in love with myself and the world and life again. This year will not be a year of achievements. Rather, it will be a year of me and enjoying the simple things in life like good food, occasional manicures, taking time to a read a book for fun, playing with my kids, and being kind to others. I also wanted to get back into journaling. I love the idea of journaling,but I've never been consistent with it. Even though it feels so good to just take time alone to write freely, declutter my mind, process the day's events, write gratitude lists, etc., I've just never kept up with it because I never make the time. This year will be different. Every night so far this year, after the kids go to bed, I sit for 10 minutes and write. I've been writing in a nice blank journal for now, but I'm on the hunt for a journal that allows me to write freely, record a gratitude list, talk about my highs and lows for the day, and have a short task list for self-care activities.

What are your New Year's resolutions? Do you journal? Which one is your favorite? I'd love to hear from you!

Dr. Katie

P.S. Do you have trouble sleeping? Do you worry a lot? Do you suffer from out-of-control, racing thoughts? Do you feel like something is off, but you're not sure what it is? Ready for some change? Check out the Anxious Mama's Anxiety Detox e-course! It's a self-paced 30 day program full of major transformations! Click here to find out more and register!

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