Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? If so, what were they, and have you stuck to them so far?
This year, I have set myself the goal of trying out new things – and importantly, to share those experiences.
My New Year’s Resolution
It actually all started on New Year’s Day back in 2015, when I made just one New Year’s resolution:
TO TRY/LEARN SOMETHING NEW EACH DAY!
It was definitely a spur of the moment decision.
Tim and I had enjoyed a quiet New Year’s Day at home, and as we were relaxing in front of the TV that evening, I was absentmindedly browsing YouTube on my phone when I came across a tutorial on how to do different types of hair braiding techniques. I tapped the play button and decided to see if I could follow the instructions of the tutorial… well, I was hopeless at it!
However, I refused to give up and persevered for hours, much to my Tim’s amusement Eventually, I mastered the technique and successfully completed the desired hairstyle (a “crown fishtail braid”).
I was so delighted that my determination had paid off that I decided then and there to make a New Year’s resolution – to try something new each day.
I was so proud of myself that I posted a photo of my new fancy hairdo on Facebook, saying,
“This year I will be trying to do/learn something new every day. It took hours but I finally managed to learn how to do a “crown fish braid” (I never said it would be useful LOL) — feeling proud.”
A New Thing A Day
I did not set myself any hard and fast rules other than I had to do one thing each day that I had never done before. It could be anything; it didn’t have to be useful or complicated – just something new. This was a real challenge for me because I was working two jobs, volunteering for various groups, and a lot more besides. I had VERY limited free time.
When I first began my challenge, I would post photos and a status update each day on my personal Facebook account about my “something new”.
It was totally unexpected, but the comments, feedback and encouragement I received from friends and family were incredible! Everyone was so supportive; offering suggestions, advice and tagging me in all sorts of posts, videos and articles of things they thought I might like to try.
At the start of this journey of discovery, I thought to myself “All being well, by 31 December 2015 I will have done at least 365 new things I had never done before!” And that is what I did.
Moving Forward
Now, it’s 2017 and once again I am on a mission to challenge myself to try out new experiences, skills, recipes, life hacks, gadgets and whatever else I can think of. This time around, I am taking life at a much less frantic pace, so the challenge is not to do a new thing a day, but just to continue pushing myself to try out new things.
So, welcome to my new blog and website, where I will be sharing with you the new things I try and do, as well as revisiting some of the many things I have learned and done along the way.
I am so excited about where this journey will take me!
Be sure to comment below and tell me what resolutions you have made, and what you hope to have achieved by the end of the year – I would love to hear all about it!
Follow me to find out what’s new…