1st January 2011

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. Henry Ward Beecher

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to January, not the happiest of months for most, however I was born in January so I think its fab. January can be tough though, most people are skint after overspending at Christmas, we’ve nearly all gained weight and are trying desperately to get back on the weight loss wagon and it’s cold. To make it even more difficult we usually impose more suffering on ourselves by denying ourselves things we enjoy or making ourselves do things we hate, also known as ‘making resolutions’. So this year instead of making stupid pointless resolutions you have no intention of keeping let’s make, ‘anti-resolutions’, these are the things we absolutely refuse to give up or start doing!

Here are some suggestions;

- Chocolate, wine, caffeine & tv – if there’s one monthly you definitely need these things – it’s January. Why fight it, find a way to include them in your ProPoints Plan. I manage to have a glass of wine daily and stay within my allowance.
- Cycling on a daily basis – leave it till July when its warmer! Play on a Wii Fit or Kinnect instead.
- Saving money, wait until after the sales, have you’re last blow out – you’re already skint anyway.
- Being lazy – yeah sleep through January you can be energetic next month or even the month after ;-) Spend the weekend in your PJs.
- Don’t give up your pay day splurge! It’s not right, it’s not OK, it won’t get you out of debt but hell it makes you feel like working all month was worth it ;-)

So what do you refuse to give up!? It’s my 41st year on the planet and it’s taken me this long to realise what makes me happy and I plan to spend the rest of my life living the life I’ve worked so hard to realise. I plan to continue to spend at least 1 day a week doing absolutely nothing constructive unless I’m away for the weekend. I will ensure my calendar doesn’t have too many things planned as I enjoy having ‘me time’ and I won’t agree to do anything that I don’t want to. This will mean I have a fabulous 2011 ahead of me.

I hope you also have the courage to live the life you’d like to rather than the one you think you ought to or that other people expect!

Happy New Year! And I hope your head isn’t too sore after last night’s celebrations.