My Resolution Pact: Part 1 | How I Changed My Life in a Year – Shelley Wilson

2018 is getting closer and closer. Time for another round of failed resolutions, right?
Not according to Shelley Wilson.

Shelley Wilson embarked on a year long mission: To set 12 goals for the New Year and, by the following year, completely change her life. Shelley also started a blog to document the whole experience, just for good measure – and to hold herself accountable. After all, now that the whole world knew, she had to follow through.

The way she decided to pursue her resolutions was to take them one month at a time. It perhaps sounds a little odd however, I understand her reasoning. She theorised that the method could help because she always tried to achieve everything at once.

I am the same.

I want to lose weight. Get fit. Write a novel. Travel. Move out of my parents home. Blog. Create interesting BookTube content. I want to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to work for myself, with absolutely no clue on how to get there. To learn more and experience more. To learn how to drive!

I want, I want I want. I’m going to go more in depth with that tomorrow.

I could definitely achieve at least a few things on this list, and I have. I’ve travelled to a few places. I just want to travel more. Not in a get your backpack and go kind of thing, but sightseeing holidays to drink in the culture and history. 

My problem?
My only problem, is me.

When I make these resolutions I attempt to do everything at once. Trying to do everything at the same time does not work for me. I’ll do great at the weight loss, but eventually get bored. Before I get bored I decide I need to incorporate the gym, but I don’t do this slowly and ease into it. I’ll head full throttle into five times a week and I’ll keep going until I burn out or get frustrated, because I don’t want to be there. I thought that by mixing it up between gym and their classes it would change my view. The problem is I don’t find ‘eating healthy’ or ‘getting fit’ fun. I never have. 

When I’m attending the gym, and people ask me, I say “Yeah, it’s not too bad once you’re there, it’s just getting there” or “I do like the aching feeling afterwards” and that’s true. Both of those things are true. But I still hate it, and that’s something that I’ve never really admitted to even myself. 

I know a few people who love going to the gym, like it’s their happy place. Which is great for them, but it isn’t mine. So, how do I make it my happy place? I don’t know. But I know I need to do it, so I should just quit whinging and do it. Easier said than done. 

Inevitably I think to the other resolutions, which are unceremoniously kicked to the kerb whilst I throw all my energy into the first two. Then, I freeze. In my yearning to do it all, I do nothing at all.

Shelley Wilson’s idea to have a main focus, one month at a time, intrigues me. It intrigues me and inspires me to the point that I want to try it out for myself. I’ll probably also blog the experience but, don’t get me wrong, Shelley Wilson blogged for accountability.

Here’s the thing about me. If I say I’m going to do something for you, nearly 100% of the time I will come through. (Allowing for circumstances such as severe illness, near death injury or similar). On the other hand, I might tell you about something I’m planning to do, or that I want to do for me. Just me. No one else involved, no one else hurt or disappointed. That’s my own personal get out of jail free card. Sure, I want to do the things I say I want to do, but I freeze and, in all honestly, I don’t expect people to remember.

So blogging the experience wouldn’t be for accountability, or for anyone to keep me in line or tell me what to do (in all honesty, I hate that). I blog because I enjoy it. Taking this on, and following it through, will be a huge aspect of my life. My blog is called nicolexenia.com. It isn’t about me or my life, but it is what I like to talk about or write about. I want to write about this. 

I hope I’m allowed and this isn’t some form of plagiarism of any kind. That is not my intent.

So, what are my resolutions for 2018?

1. Eat Healthier

2. Be More Active

3. Learn to Drive

4. Self-Care

5. Read More

6. Improve Blog & BookTube Channel

7. Get Creative

8. Try Something New

9. Self-Makeover

10. Learn Something New

11. NaNoWriMo

12. Create Something Everyday

As you can see ‘Travel’ and ‘Figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life’ have not outrightly made the list, and that’s because I don’t know how to break that down. I am also going to set some other smaller goals, because my life is a mess and there’s a lot to work on.

I’ll state the reasonings for each of these goals in the specific posts, I have to have something to write on that first day of the month! I’ll probably blog weekly, like Shelley did. She’s given me a lot of inspiration. (So much so I even followed her on Twitter!). The goals are my own, but co-incidently a few of them are very similar to hers. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I identified so much with her words? I was reading and listening to someone talk about the things that I want to do, and achieving them. 

Now I want to achieve them.

I want, I want, I want. As I say, tomorrow I’ll go into more detail because I’ve read another book just today, which has also inspired me. We’re encroaching on that “Too much too soon” side of me but I’m hoping that, rather than clash, they’ll feed into each other.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

Do you make New Years Resolutions? Do you have plans for keeping them? Let me know.

I don’t know how 2018 will go, I could fall flat on my face and fail within the first month. But I’ll always get back up and try again. I can even fail for months straight and then try again. One thing about me is, I’ll never fully give up trying. And who knows, maybe this way will work for me. Maybe blogging the experience, having that commitment to myself to upload every week will help me (it certainly helped with Blogmas!). 

2018 – Here I come.