As I was riding my Chopper from Henley up the Stonor Valley today (not a euphemism) I was mulling over the differing points of view concerning the effectiveness or otherwise of new year's resolutions. It seems to me that some fail because they don't have a sufficiently specific purpose with planned steps, so it's difficult to know when you're going off track. Perhaps we should be making next year resolutions, stating clearly how / where we want to be a year from now.
At the risk of sounding like a 1970s cycling Swiss Tony, as with any other year and life in general, 2015 will be like cycling a Raleigh Chopper up the Stonor Valley. When you start, you'll have the best intentions and it'll seems as though you have all the time in the world but, before you know it, you'll be in the thick of it and being overtaken by people who seem to be having an easier time of it than you. It's easy to be distracted and disheartened but there's no point in thinking about what they're doing because you can't control it. If you want to do better than last time, you need to decide what "better" means and while it mustn't be impossible and should be within your control, it should be challenge worth the effort.
When you've decided on your new route to "better" and the steps you need to get there you should write it all down. It'll be easier to stick to your plan and harder to give up. Each time you manage a step, enjoy a treat. Life is disappearing at the rate of one day every day so don't risk any regret.
Yes, 2015 will be like riding a Chopper to the top of the Stonor Valley and if you haven't arrived at the 1st of January 2016, soaked in sweat, with tunnel vision and a bit of sick in your mouth then you should probably have tried harder - or you've been very sensible with the new year's eve booze.
