Stop Making New Year’s Resolutions: Instead Set One Small Goal

A new year is so intoxicating. One night’s sleep and poof you get to start over again.

Generally I hate New Year’s Resolutions. I find them to be suffocating and depressing. I’ve been known to make huge un-achievable goals that generally get abandoned somewhere around January 21st. Pretty sure I’m not the only one…right?

Which is why I’m going to encourage you to make a New Year’s Resolution if you want to, but to make it small. Make is something achievable. Make it something that’s not about the scale or the number of times you’re gonna to hit the gym. While you’re at it forget about making huge dietary changes.

Make your 2019 New Year’s Resolution about finding a new adventure. Make it about learning something new. Make it about starting a creative project.

The reason I think you should make a small goal is because you never know where that one small step is going to take you.

In 2018 I made one small goal. I had been watching several people on Instagram work their way through the 52 Hike Challenge. For those who haven’t heard about it, it’s a genuinely lovely idea, and to put it in a nutshell it amounts to you hiking once a week for a year.

The old me would have jumped right on that bandwagon and vowed to hike once a week in 2018. Luckily, the more realistic me set a goal that was achievable for ME.

Hike at least once per month in 2018.

It’s not as sexy as the 52 Hike Challenge, but for me it was a goal that I was more confident I could achieve, and I’m very happy to say that I did!

This one small goal led me to start several other new projects and endeavors, namely camping and eventually this blog.

Since writing my first post in April 2018 Catherine and I have gone camping in Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Leo Carrillo. We’ve hiked to waterfalls, abandoned bridges and to a place called Mount Disappointment (fantastic name right?!).

At the same time my interest in other creative work started to increase. All that fresh air got me taking more pictures, which inspired me to finally pick up a brush and start water coloring. That got me wanting to practice my drawing and even made me remember back to my college days when all I wanted to do was be a wrapping paper designer (seriously, I designed many sheets of wrapping paper…and several Nordstrom shopping bags).

So why am I telling you this long drawn out story? Because that one small goal led to all of these other things.

Since starting this whole Indoorsy Camper thing I’ve come to three realizations.

1. I’m happier when I get to spend time outdoors
2. I’m happier when I get to create (something! anything!).
3. I need balance.

I can almost guarantee that if I had proceeded with the 52 Hike Challenge I would have quit early. Then I would have felt disappointed and ashamed and would have never unearthed the creative parts of myself. Plus I wouldn’t have realized that I need balance in my outdoor and indoor life.

While I totally understand that a New Year inspires all of us to reach further, remember that it is also a moment to reflect on how your 2018 went. Then make one small goal for 2019.

One small goal doesn’t have to be the end of it. I’d be willing to guess that that one small goal will start a chain of events that you haven’t even thought about.