The idea of making a New Year's resolution has always been super cringe to me - mainly because everyone I know who has made one has given up! However, New Year's Eve I actually made one...yes just the one : that each night as I got into bed, I'd start reading again. Reading a proper book, not an e-book, not a blog post, not a Tweet, not an Instagram caption, a proper book. Apart from the last couple of nights, I have been completely on it. I finished my first book One of Us is Lying in 5 days and I was falling asleep approximately 3-4 hours before I normally would! No joke.

However, these past few nights when I haven't picked up my book have got me thinking. Do people put so much pressure on a New Year's resolution that when they don't do it every single day, they've failed? Have I already broken my resolution 17 days in?

Take the resolution of dry-January or losing weight for example. If you mess up for x amount of days or weeks, is it easier to say "oh well, I've broken it now, may as well not continue."? I read something similar in the dieting world. Somebody said, "If you broke your phone screen, would you continue to smash it?" No. You'd repair the damage and try your best to look after it again.

But the first night I didn't feel like reading, I immediately felt this sense of guilt. It's stupid when I think about it - IT'S ONLY A BOOK! but I'd set the goal for myself. Then the days followed and I was beating myself up about it so much that I'd pick up the book, read a couple of sentences or a page, just to mentally tick off that I'd done it and then go back to my phone or iPad.

I asked my friend how many days out of a year constitutes 'passing' your resolution? She replied that each resolution would be different but if you're doing it the majority of the year, you've passed! She also raised a good point - "Why do we need New Year to set a goal, we should do it all year!". Plus, goals change all year round.

If you have a goal, set it NOW! and also, if you think you've failed already with your New Year's resolution, pick yourself up and start again tomorrow! I will be picking that book back up tonight :)

Sidenote: As soon as I was finished writing this, I went to buy a new book and the website said "Progress, not perfection - Fresh thinking for 2019" Sums it all up really, doesn't it :)

Until next post,

Amy x