Bloggers’ Anti New Year’s Resolutions

Did you resolve to lose weight, go to the gym, and step away from Facebook indefinitely on Jan 1st? Only to find yourself stuffing whole chocolate oranges into your face while replaying that hilarious clip of the panda and the snowman on Jan 2nd? And on 3rd too? It doesn’t bode well does it? Rather than make a big list of well meaning but ultimately useless resolutions, why not resolve NOT to do something. Just one thing. And stick to it. To help you out with some ideas, Kirstie Pelling asked some bloggers to declare what they won’t be doing in 2017. Do share your thoughts or anti resolutions in the comments…

My Anti New Year’s Resolution

My anti new year’s resolution is not to complicate everything. I decide this as I sit down to write a food post on Jan 2nd that reviews 15 French restaurants. Why would I write about fifteen restaurants you ask? Because I like cheese? Well yes but communicating my love for cheese could be done in a post with ten restaurants, or five, or even one? Non? Well…yes…but complicating things is what I do. I do it when when I’m travelling, when I’m working and when I’m organising the family. If two paths converge in a wood I will always pick the one going uphill. It’s just how I roll. Or was until now.

No more breakfast 

So, no more over-complicating from me. Well that was pretty simple. So I put out a call for other bloggers to make an anti resolution too. Maybe it can make a difference this year, to our blogs, to our social media accounts and to our lives.

Unsurprisingly for new year, quite a few travel bloggers are thinking about cutting back on the cheese, especially when on the road. Heather who blogs at Heather On Her Travels is committing to stay away from those tempting buffet breakfasts on trips. – “Not eating a huge hotel breakfast when I’m going to be trying out the coffee shops, cafes and restaurants the rest of the day.” Samantha Rickleton who blogs at North East Family Fun is also thinking about her waist, but this time at dinner. “This year I will NOT order a full three courses when dining out and justify it by saying it’s ‘for the blog’ – I featured 44 restaurant reviews last year. It’s no wonder I’m not losing any weight!” Meanwhile Laura from Tired Mummy of Two goes even further. “I resolved not to judge myself or hate myself for what I eat or how I look.” Quite right.

No more seven day weeks

Becki from Borders of Adventure has been thinking about how she values and spends her time. This year it’s not all going to be about work, particularly at weekends.” It’s easy for freelance life to blur into anything except a set schedule, and without a day or two break to recharge. This means breaking from social media and… possibly still travelling but on my own time, even if it’s just a day trip or a 48-hour adventure.” And living in Vienna, Becki has more opportunities than most for some quality weekend adventures.

No more self doubt

Alison who blogs at Not another Mummy Blog wants to put an end to negative thoughts. “I’m aiming to kick imposter syndrome into touch, focus on my own path and keep reminding myself how brilliant I am rather than listening to that voice inside my head telling me I’m not.” Meanwhile Alice who blogs at Project Wanderlust is through with comparing herself to other ‘better’ bloggers. “Almost jacked it all in over the Xmas break as I wasn’t as good as everyone else – took me reading back over my posts for our 2016 travels to remember this blog is first and foremost a digital diary of my family’s travels as we all grow and change. That will be my focus and driving force this year.”

No more endless social and stats

Lisa Jane from Travel Loving Family makes a commitment to spend less time browsing her social media channels and more time writing blog posts. “I need to finish off the 10+ blog posts I have half written before I start any new ones.” Jo Addison’s anti resolution also concerns social media, “I keep thinking about coming off Facebook as I think I waste too much time scrolling through my newsfeed.” Her plan is to restrict personal use while continuing as normal for business on her Kiddy Holidays blog.

Meanwhile Nichola who blogs as Globalmouse Travels has decided to put the measuring tools to one side and concentrate on her craft. “I’m not focusing on the stats, just on the writing and the quality. I usually make a note of all my stats at the start of the year but this year I haven’t…. It’s going to be all about being the best I can be, without worrying so much about the results.” Nisbah from Five Adventurers has similar thoughts, “I stopped caring about things that don’t actually matter. For example awards, ranking, stats. My blog is my own space and this year I refuse to let it be overshadowed by other things.”

No more saying yes to everything  

Karen who blogs at Mini Travellers says she won’t always make every trip into a blog trip.” It’s nice for them to be complimentary but it’s also nice for some of them to be just for fun.” Meanwhile Erin resolves to stop saying yes to every opportunity for her Yorkshire Tots blog. “I am not going to ignore my gut reaction to blogging opportunities. I have gotten better at this but I still agree to things occasionally that I know I am going to regret and I’m usually right. I need to be more realistic about how much time a good blog post takes.” Zoe Dawes who blogs as The Quirky Traveller is in agreement. “I’m not going to get sucked in to feeding the beast that is online content creation. Quality not quantity. It means my blog figures won’t grow quickly but I want to stay real!” she says.

No more bumbling 

No more travel posing

Claire at Tin Box Traveller believes the way to get more out of her travel experiences is to stop looking at the world through a lens all the time. “Taking too many photos and missing out on special moments with my family would be top of the list.” She adds, “I always panic that I haven’t got the right number of shots in focus but inevitably I do. It then takes me twice as long to sort through them.” Nell from The Pigeon Pair and Me relates to this and has an anti resolution of her own. “I’m going to stop trying to get my kids to pose prettily for pictures. The rude ones tell a better story!”

No more putting it off 

Penny from Parentshaped is more concerned with her post trip habits, resolving “Not to let writing up afterwards take the joy out of the trip. I’m writing things up on the plane, train or in the car so that it is fresh in my mind and doesn’t set off the post holiday blues!” 

No more perfection

Jane who blogs at Taking 5 has an anti resolution that would probably work well for most of us. ”I’m aiming to ditch the perfectionism and go with the motto “Done is better than perfect” this year.”

So, bloggers resolve to have a less judgemental, happily imperfect year with one less FB filled breakfast or dinner. Do leave a comment with what YOU vow not to do in 2017…