Happy New Year!  May 2013 be everything you want it to be, and more.

I’m writing this, my first post of the year, on a freezing winter’s day in the middle of January.  I realise it’s a bit late in the month for New Year greetings but I’ve had a bit of a delayed start to 2013 owing to a nasty bout of flu which put me out of action for the first two weeks of the year.

However, I am definitely on the mend and finally able to give some thought to the year ahead and what I would like to experience of it.

New Year’s Resolutions

The third week of January is traditionally the week in which people lose their resolve and keeping New Year’s Resolutions starts to feel like too much hard work.  Luckily for me, I have only got round to making mine.

Usually, I make an announcement on New Year’s Eve along the lines of, ‘I’m going to get fit and healthy, lose weight, create a beautiful garden, write a novel and earn more money’ and so on.  I’m sure you can guess what happened to those resolutions.  Suffice it to say, I’m still working on them.

Your Best Year Yet!

In recent years I’ve adopted a new tradition of writing in my journal and working through all ten questions in the book Your Best Year Yet! by Jinny S. Ditzler.  I highly recommend Your Best Year Yet! as a tool to really focus on what you want to achieve in the year ahead but this year it just didn’t feel right.

So for 2013 I’ve approached resolution-making in a completely different manner.  Rather than focus on lists of goals, which just felt overwhelming to me, I’ve decided to focus on the highlights of 2012 and what I want MORE of in 2013.

I Want More of the Good Stuff

Yes More! We’re living in an age of austerity with constant news of budget cuts and other belt-tightening measures.  Let’s face it, it’s depressing.  Rather than focus on what I need to cut out of my life or add to my To Do list, I am focusing on what I want more of.

This year I want MORE:

• fun and laughter with friends
• intimate connection with my partner
• long distance walks in the countryside
• fitness and energy
• writing and blogging
• beauty in the garden
• income.

Creating Abundance

So often resolutions focus on deprivation which just makes me feel miserable.  By focusing on what I want more of, I have a sense of abundance.  I’m bringing things into my life rather than cutting them out.

Of course, if I want more energy, I am going to have to make some changes to my lifestyle, like go to bed earlier, reduce the amount of alcohol I drink during the week and so on.  But my focus is not on cutting things out, it’s on bringing new things and more pleasure into my life.

Take Action to Make Resolutions Reality

So, my next step is to take ACTION to make sure I do have more of what I want. That would include picking up the phone and arranging to meet friends, making my first trip of the year to the gym this evening, making sure I write every morning and so on.

I’ve never approached resolutions and goals like this before, so it’s going to be an interesting experiment to see how I fare.  And if you’re having trouble sticking to your resolutions why not give it a try.

What do you want more of in your life?  Do you have a special method for making New Year’s Resolutions? I’d love to know.  Leave a comment in the box below.

Thanks to Phil Askew at BringtheBrave.com for first introducing me to the concept of More in his post Death to Resolutions!