Drop Your Resolutions and Seek Out a Happier New Year

Drop Your Resolutions and Seek Out a Happier New Year
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My New Year's resolution lists used to be huge. Packed with big aspirations to wear a smaller size dress, exercise more, try new beauty tricks, and work longer hours to get ahead in my career, I was essentially resolving to become the "perfect" woman. Year after year, it never worked. A few healthy habits would stick and I would feel proud for a few weeks, but many would not. While I continued to grow and learn from my mistakes, my hefty list of resolutions was never enough. Every year I felt dissatisfied and wished I could do more or be more.

I was utterly exhausted at the end of 2013. I was at my wit's end after making a huge list of resolutions the previous year, and to my surprise, having the hardest, most disappointing 12 months of my life. All my healthy goals and plans to be a better me couldn't have saved me from the heap of lessons I was bound to learn the year of my 30th birthday.

So at the start of 2014, I tried something new. I made one and only resolution -- to do more of what I wanted and less of what anyone else told me to do. It was the best decision I had made in a long time. Last year turned out to be the happiest year of my life. I spent it traveling, moving back to Florida to be near my best friends, quitting my office job, starting a freelance writing career, and going on fear-chasing adventures.

I did what I wanted and I spent a lot less time worrying about following a to-do list of things I "should" be doing in order to meet the expectations of other people. It felt awesome.

This year my intentions are the same, and it's my mission to inspire others to take the same leap. It's not that New Year's resolutions are bad. Setting healthy goals and putting them into action is how you follow your dreams! But the truth is, we all could benefit from a little more self love, self acceptance, and dare I say, selfishness. In other words, doing more of what makes us happy and less of what we think we should do to please others.

When you sit back to think about it, what really makes you happy? What gets your heart racing with joy and excitement? Is it traveling to a tropical destination? Is it playing games and having laughing fits with your kids or your best friends? Is it starting up that hobby you quit when you started your full-time career? How can you thrive on a daily basis? What do YOU want to do?

Are you with me? I challenge you to bravely make the resolution to follow your heart. Make your one and only resolution this year to commit to your own happiness. As soon as you make the decision, sit back and watch the magic it will create in your life.

I'd love to hear what makes you happy and how you can do more of that this year, so leave me a comment to share. We're in this together.

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