Written by QCMHA member, Jeffrey Hugessen
Last Year when I went home for the Holidays, my brother Richard told me about his goals for 2020, including travelling to Asia to learn martial arts and improving his writing skills. He also outlined some of the resolutions he had set to help achieve these goals and others. For example, he had a limit on the money he could spend on consumer products to save money and reduce waste and made a goal to write daily.
I have always been skeptical of New Year’s resolutions, thinking they were tacky and ultimately not that helpful for people who want to make changes in their life. Sure enough, mere months later, with the world flipped on its side, many of Richard’s resolutions looked comical. He had far exceeded his spending limit with the transition to working at home (which I made sure to remind him of), and his goals of travelling in 2020 were unlikely.
Over the following months, I mostly forgot about my brother’s resolutions, that is, until the beginning of December, when Richard launched his weekly newsletter. While he hadn’t travelled to Asia and had far exceeded his spending goals, he had continued writing every day. Reading his work almost a year later, it was clear how much he had improved. Furthermore, talking with Richard, it was evident that his writing had been one of his biggest joys amid a challenging year. Even the goals and resolutions he hadn’t achieved, he learned a lot about himself, his habits and ultimately changed his behaviour for the better.
Seeing the success, he had with his goals, I went into this New Years with a changed perspective on resolutions'. I now view the tradition as a commitment you make to yourself to do the things you know are good for you. With that in mind, I went into 2021 thinking, what do I want to have accomplished a year from now, what do I want my habits to look like? What do I want my “Newsletter” to be?
So, I have come up with a few resolutions that I hope will guide my behaviour towards things that keep me physically and mentally healthy. I think this is particularly important now with things being so uncertain, I hope that these resolutions and the activities they promote will be guiderails that direct me towards becoming a better me. Hopefully by writing them in this post, I'll be even more accountable so here goes:
I want to read a book for at least 30 minutes every day. It doesn’t matter what the book is, just that I take the time to unwind.
I want to journal at least a few lines every day. It doesn’t matter how long my entries are or how long I spend doing it, but I have to mentally go through the exercise of reflecting on my day, week, month etc.
I have challenged my brothers to do at least 150 push-ups per day. For my resolutions, I have downloaded an app called 'Way of Life,' which tracks daily habits.
I would love to hear your guys' opinions on New Year’s resolution and let me know what your newsletter will be!
Also, if you want to subscribe to my brothers’ newsletter, here is the link: https://cheerful-experimenter-8225.ck.page/3ed0cad4e3?fbclid=IwAR3LA3kbm4OQkiVqAoT5-mgInvHxw48CKQ4GZxnbBQvYFrYclk-8LXnis-o