It’s that time of year again… ‘resolution’ time.

I’ve already heard ‘resolution chat’ today in work and it got me thinking about why everyone vows to change at this time of year.

I believe it may be down to a sense of unity. If everyone else is changing, exercising, doing dry January, etc, it’s a lot easier to motivate yourself to do it too.

Plus, since we’ve been born we’ve had it drilled into our heads that the start of the new year means a new YOU! It’s your chance to revolutionise yourself, aka, please buy all our dieting products and sign up for a 12 month gym membership you won’t use and deny yourself chocolate because you think it’ll make you feel better.

Well, news flash. It probably won’t work. And that’s OK.

Come with me on a new type of resolution instead! A GUILT FREE NEW YEAR!

Dawn French Diary

If you follow me on Insta you’ll have seen that I’ve started a diary alongside Dawn French in her new book. Mum and dad went to great extremes to get me this book (it was super popular), so I’m going to make a big effort to do it.

She talks about making resolutions you can keep, and if you can’t keep them, like I say above, she says it’s OK.

It’s a shame that someone has to write a book to tell me that, but hey ho, this is the life we’ve carved for ourselves.

So after reading Dawn’s resolutions, which were all small, manageable changes, what did I come up with for myself?

My resolution

Resolutions, despite making people think of all the times they’ve failed them in the past, are not bad. If they encourage growth and make you happier, then they are incredible.

But the point is you shouldn’t punish yourself if you don’t keep them, because you know what? Failure is part of life too. It took me a long time to realise that.

So for 2018, my resolutions are things I’d like to happen, but won’t beat myself up over if they don’t.

1. This year I want to try and be more social. Because I can quite happily just become a little hermit with my books if left to my own devices. Which is a shame because I do quite like getting to know people.

2. I also plan to try and watch new types of things on TV and in the cinema. I’m eyeing up Mary Shelley that’s out in June, I don’t think I need to tell you what that’s about, and there’s a film coming out about Winston Churchill that I’d like to see too.

3. Finally, my third resolution is to keep battling my demons. We all have them, and I’ve been inspired by Aunt Poll’s advice to a depressed and anxious Tommy on Peaky Blinders ‘we shake hands with the devil, and we walk past him’, which is one of the best thing’s I’ve ever heard. (Second only to when Deacon realised in Nashville that he couldn’t go back to the way he was before he was mentally unwell and had to accept this new version of himself – and that it was OK).

But I digress!

Those are my resolutions! If I do them, great, if I don’t, great. It’s up to me, and I’ll take comfort in knowing that whatever happens it was my choice.

Do you have a resolution or two for 2018? It’s OK if you don’t – you don’t need to change!

But if you do, good luck. And remember, it’s OK (AND HEALTHY) to fail sometimes. It’s how we grow.

And if you’re growing, isn’t that what new year resolutions are all about anyway?