I still get this excited for a new year. I used to think a new year was a chance to completely change myself, to be a completely new person. Obviously at times when I wanted to completely change myself I did not really like who I was. And I feel like that is the issue with many people and the new year. Instead of improving the person you already are in a loving way we try to completely change who we are. And realistically unless you are Donald Trump, or any member of the AfD or the chick who wrote 50 Shades of Grey you don´t really need to do that. 

Over the last three years I started to get better at making resolutions. Not only did I get better at liking myself and stopping to want to completely change my personality, looks and attitude, I also got better at making more precise goals and (I think this is especially crucial) to not think completely in black and white. I used to think if I was not the new perfect version of me every single day in the new year, I may as well not do better at all. Which obviously is bullshit. So if you struggle with these things as well, here are a few tips to make resolutions that set you up for success:

1. Make realistic resolutions. Let´s be real if you eat junkfood for every single meal of every single day, you will not start to eat only salads and fruits when the clock ticks over at midnight. But you could aim to have one healthy meal a day. If you hate exercise you will not smash it in the gym six days a week. But you can aim to walk 15 minutes every day.

2. Make measurable resolutions. So don´t just aim to eat healthier, aim to have five servings of veggies and fruits everyday. Or to cut out fried foods for 30 days. Don´t say I want to work out more, say you will aim to work out 3 times a week for a month.

3. Set little goals. It can feel overwhelming to say: I will work out everyday, eat super healthy, read a book every week and start Yoga. Then when you fail at doing all of these things every single day you feel like a failure and you decide to just stop trying at all. What has helped me is to focus on one goal for a month. For example this month I will try to walk 10 thousand steps every day. Instead of worrying that I am not doing Veganuary I aim to eat vegan for 30 days at some point in 2019. 

4. Don´t aim for perfection. Because I am travelling until March it is relatively difficult for me to workout regularly. But this year, because I can´t do something perfectly, I will not give up, I will just try my best. For me this means I am trying to do the Bikini Body Guide as good as I can. My body does not know if I should do a certain excercise weighted or on an excercise bench instead of of a couch and it does not know if I am walking on a treadmill or outside. And it does not know if the calories I am burning during a workout are from a run or from lifting weights. Trying your best is honestly amazing and you should not kill yourself about not doing something perfect, because nobody actually is.

So now we may have missed the mark for the new year, but there is always a chance to be a better person. Obviously a new year is a great start, but you can choose any day to improve yourself. Let me know what are your goals for the new year? Or the new week? Or the new month?

Here are mine for 2019:

FITNESS

• Complete the Bikini Body Guide (including LISS, which I always loathed)
• Get into a lifting routine once I have regular access to a gym
• Learn how to do a pull up 
• Do 30 Days of Yoga

• Find a full time job #grownupmuch
• Read 52 books
• Write two blogposts a week

• Eat vegan for 30 days
• Give up alcohol for 30 days
• Give up candy and fried foods for lent
• Get back into meditation and bullet journaling

• Reunite with my Bachelor friends
• Go to Greece
• Learn to surf