No, actually, it’s not a new me. It’s the same me as always.
I am not one to get swept up in the thrill of the new year and all the promise it brings. I’m dreading 2024, the continuation of two wars, the horrific election cycle ahead, and the probable outcome of said election cycle. I think 2024 is going to be a hard year, and I’m kind of not looking forward to it.
I am not someone who generally makes new years resolutions, or sets goals, or chooses a word for the year. I certainly have, every once in a while, but none of it has ever resulted in much. I am very lucky to have made a habit out of working out and I feel VERY lucky that I’m not trying to lose any weight. I already read (and listen to) plenty of books. I have no real professional ambition and am content/resigned to remain where I am until I retire.
There is plenty I’d love to change about my life. I’d love to learn how to make and stick to a budget. I know a fair amount about the former, but have never manage to maintain the latter. I’d love to keep my house organized, but my MANY attempts have all failed eventually. It’s true that each attempt brings me closer to where I want to be, but the improvements are incremental.
So I won’t make resolutions about budgeting or organizing, because I know that for me, those efforts will be performative. I will continue to declutter my house, in preparation for my in-laws stay here. I will continue to try to spend less, and review my spending when necessary. It’s not a coincidence that both budgeting and organization are two of the biggest hurdles for many women with ADHD. And while my ADHD meds make my life so much more manageable, they are not miracle cures that made either of those obstacles less challenging. So I will continue to make incremental progress in both areas, progress that can’t really be articulated in a new year’s resolution.
As a teacher, I find the fall a much more momentous start of a new year. August is when I learn what the next ten months of my life will look like. I don’t open a new planner on January 1st because I got a new planner in August and it’s half way filled now. My life revolves around the academic calendar, which makes January 1st a lot less impactful.
I have read many “looking back at 2023” posts that make me wonder if I should reflect on the past year. But I don’t see myself writing one of those either. I’m just not feeling it. And I feel weird because pretty much every post I’ve read over the past few days has been reflective or future-focused. I guess this post is me justifying my choices to myself, so I feel like less of a weirdo.
Do you spend time during the new year to reflect on the past twelve months? Do you make New Year’s resolutions or goals or pick a word of the year?
I agree that as someone who is in academia, fall seems like more of a fresh start than January, but I like the opportunity to reflect. I can see how it might make more sense for some people to do a reflection during the summer, though!
Yeah, I was thinking about the reflecting piece last night and I wonder if I just don’t like reflecting much! Maybe if I found some prompts that felt especially meaningful I’d be more interested.
Happy New Year!
Thank you once again for normalizing how I am. And for saying (writing) out loud what has me fretting these days. I think you are doing great and I hope you have spent more time taking care of me than using another’s ideas about resolutions or grand plans for this new year. Some years that happens naturally, this clearly isn’t that year for you OR for me. Tomorrow (Thursday) is expected to be dry out so I hope you can spend some time out doors doing things that refresh and energize you! I really need you to be feeling strong heading into this year because it doesn’t look easy and you are part of my support structure. THANK YOU FOR WRITING!!!!
I actually have decided that tiny incremental steps towards doing better with money management and time management and organizational actions at home (or work) are the only way I make progress. Read the Susan Pinsky Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD book. I did not find it a magic wand. (no surprise there). She does present her information with an awareness of ADHD behaviors. She does repeat, she lays out the material in a fast effective method. A vast majority of her suggestions/ideas are things I have already instituted after decades of self experimentation and Much/Many ideas I suspect our hostess has also instituted. But it IS a sympathetic supportive book and like growing a wax candle being re-dipped in the ideas regularly is helpful. For me definitely a library read book. One time read not a book I’d buy. BUT, I have an excellent library system where I live and a minuscule budget for books. Other people’s situation may vary.
Do you spend time during the new year to reflect on the past twelve months?
I really do, and I start in, like, October. Idk, it brings me joy to look back and pat myself on the back or learn from mistakes and hug myself. I enjoy the process of writing and reflecting.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions or goals or pick a word of the year?
I usually do; but this year I have more of a vibe rather than a goal list. Things I know I want and like. In my bucolic privilege, there really are no problems, except in my head.
You shouldn’t feel like a weirdo for not doing them! You know why I do them? I have a REALLY bad memory and it forces me to remember what happened in the year, specifically to record it for when I can’t remember a year anymore. That’s why I’ve done five or ten year recaps, too!
Also sometimes I have big things I need to get done and writing it down might help me remember to do them. The blog is basically a giant planner for me 😉
Your planning in the fall at the start of the school year makes a lot of sense to me, personally. The end of the lunar or the Western year doesn’t hold meaning for me, it’s just a convenient timestop for things like taxes or shifting the animal of the year.
It’s totally ok NOT to make resolutions. Mine have been vague aspirations at best for years. I like the idea of a goals list, but I am not always good in putting it together in time and then I often just continue with the things that work for me (there is something to be said about well-established routines ;)).