New Year’s Resolutions do not work for me. I have made my fair share of them — lose weight! quit caffeine! don’t eat refined sugar! — but they never seem to stick. I lose ten pounds and then gain thirty. I quit caffeine and then guzzle more than ever. I abstain from refined sugar for a few weeks only to go on a sugar bender that would make Willy Wonka blush. Then I feel like a failure and wallow in shame, guilt and self-loathing.
But projects? As I mentioned yesterday, I love projects!
I start more projects than I finish. Exhbit A: the projects I started at the beginning of 2021 to rebuild my momentum. But I never feel guilty when I abandon a project. If anything, I feel empowered by my decision to curtail something that is not working for me.
Maybe I am quibbling over semantics, but for me, a “resolution” feels foreboding and stern while a “project” is fun and joyful. That is why I do not make New Year’s Resolutions anymore. Instead, I choose some aspirational projects.
(Side note: I’m sure that for many of you, the word “project” conjures up intense nausea and the desire to hide under the nearest coffee table. Isn’t it amazing how the same word can make one person giddy and another violently ill?)
As I explained in yesterday’s post, I started a lot of projects at the beginning of 2021. And then, I forgot about or abandoned most of them. On paper, my 2021 New Year’s Projects look like an unmitigated failure, but I regard them as a huge triumph. I started my 2021 projects to ignite my momentum, and holy shit, I accomplished just that.
Did I maintain my soda fast? No, but I returned to the hot yoga studio and ended the year feeling healthier than ever.
Did I blog every day? Dear God, no. But I got our first pet hamster, expanded our veggie garden, and started mowing our lawn.
Did I French braid my hair 100 times? No, but I became our school’s Room Parent Coordinator, reclaimed my role as cookie czar for Pippa’s scout troop, and became an AYSO referee.
Did I tap dance? Only a few times, but I joined Obé and did a ton of fitness classes including cardio dance.
Did I go down 100 different slides? No, but I got boogie boards for the kids, caught many waves myself, and reconnected with a childhood passion.
Some might think that I should have picked and finished just one or two projects — but that’s not my style. I complete plenty of projects (hello, Adventures With Postpartum Depression) but magical things happen when I start more projects than I can ever hope to finish. That’s my process, and as a recovering perfectionist, it gives me the space to try, fail and keep on trying. Some things will stick. Some will not. Either way, starting lots of projects at the beginning of a new year builds my momentum; momentum boosts my mental health; and then I can be my best damn self.
That is exactly how I feel on the eve of 2022: like my best damn self.
Now if you will please excuse me, I need to finish planning some bitching projects for 2022. I want to keep my magical momentum moving!