Don’t make any.
There…I said it. And it feels good to even say that out loud!! Let alone walk into 2021 without any resolutions on my brain. And you betcha…if you don’t make any, you won’t fail! You’re welcome! *dusts hands off like after any job well done*
But that’s not really what this article is about. Well, not in its entirety. Like always, I’m not only the highlighter-of-problems, I’m the bringer-of-solutions. So I do encourage you to keep reading – I promise you will get sound advice for both your New Year’s Resolutions (think: rebranding) as well as your sustainability journey! But after just having left the long, often dark and always lonely haze of 2020, we need to just give ourselves a wee little break, so first of all: breathe.
The problem with setting resolutions is…well there’s many problems. But one of the major issues is that they tend to be very generalized. Think about those normally shared among your friends: lose weight, get fit, change careers, complete a course of some sort, be a better spouse/parent/child, eat less junk food…these are so broad with ill defined terms that actually, who knows if you really succeed. And if you don’t perceive yourself as succeeding, you must be failing, right? And what happens then? You give up. Think of our wonderful and complex brain as being made up of a system of roads, looping and winding with plenty of on- and off-ramps, some of them not well signposted. When you drive the same route over and over you make a firm neural pathway, to the point that you can drive it without any effort at all – you know all the twists, turns and exits. That pathway might be one from an experience of success…or failure. Chances are, we’ve experienced failing at something more often than success – in fact without failure, there can be no success. But, the success only follows if we don’t give up while still experiencing failed attempts. There’s two messages here: 1. it doesn’t serve you well to concede and give up on things; 2. failure begets failure, if you concede (see message 1). So what does that mean? When we’re able to make a success of something, we ‘re more likely to have more successes. Setting yourself up for failing at New Year’s Resolutions, by making them in the historically broad way, is a sure-fire way to cement failure neural pathways.
The other main issue is that these Resolutions are promises we make to ourselves. Now, when we make promises to our friends, 9/10 of us will action it, ensuring we don’t let them down. Because if we did they might not trust us any longer, right? But what about ourselves? Very many of us, even those who to the outside world appear brimming with confidence, harbor an element of insecurity and distrust in ourselves, thereby placing higher value on living up to our friend’s expectations than our own. Ever heard of an Accountability Partner? This is the exact reason this concept exists. To keep us accountable – to ourselves. Because once we break that promise to ourselves, all bets are off, it’s game over. There is nothing less motivating than the worthlessness of a task – and if we broke our promise, both the task and us are worthless.
It’s important to note that people with no goals won’t achieve any goals. So I’m not saying stop trying at life! Instead, I’m suggesting you replace the word Resolution with RE-THINKS. Having New Year’s RE-THINKS has the underlying message of being open and understanding of the need to be dynamic and agile in the way you go through life. Which, if you think about it, is at the basis of those Resolutions mentioned above: changing something about yourself. But you don’t need to change YOU. You might just benefit from tweaking some of your actions. Having New Year’s RE-THINKS in place will frame things much better for you.
R – Realistic. The goals you set have to actually be achievable. So to that end they need to be well defined.
E – Energizing. You should feel great and motivated by trying to reach this goal!
T – Tangible. You have to be able to see/feel/understand the impact that your actions have. In other words, your action is measurable so you know if you’ve achieved the goal.
H – Habitual. You have to be able to set up positive neural pathways, with repeated patterns.
I – Important. Whether that’s on a personal front or a larger scale which is important to the future of life on this planet, there should be a real reason for the goal.
N – Nurturing. Help educate and lead yourself and others toward positivity and action. Nurture love and compassion and nice-ness. Allow yourself time and space for your mental health. We have just lived through a rather solo year. But it’s shown us just exactly how much better things are when we’re together…even on _________ (insert your favored choice of video calling), so nurture your relationships and sense of community.
K – Kindhearted. Think about how your words and actions make someone else feel. Remember that old adage “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”? It might be a good time to embody that, this year. There are kind ways to do or say things.
S – Sustainable. Well, obviously, right!? The beauty of this word is that it refers to being environmentally responsible, but also that the actions you take need to be able to continue in a perpetual manner.
And now to discuss what those RE-THINKS could actually be. It wouldn’t be realistic to make every one of them hit each of the letters, but it’s reasonable to tick at least three of the boxes. It might not surprise you that I’ll concentrate on RE-THINKS related to sustainability and living your best environmentally responsible life. So here’s a list of things you can action in your life which will help you, help the planet and help humanity.
Compost. Either for your own garden if you have one, or to donate to a community garden. You will be amazed at how this small act reduces the amount in your trash – and it is hugely beneficial in reducing your personal carbon footprint. Did you know that food scraps ending up in landfill is the leading cause of methane release in the US?? Composting is the immediate and simple fix! R, E, T, H, I, N, S
Take your reusable water bottle and coffee cup. Everywhere. All. The. Time. But start with expecting this of yourself twice per week. And reward yourself for doing this by finding cafes which give you a discount for bringing your own reusable coffee cup. Win win! R, T, H, I, S
Take your reusable tote. Yep….All. The. Time. But like above, start with an expectation of twice per week. You could make it a leaving the house ritual: keys, phone, tote (and pro tip: as soon as you’ve washed them throw your reusable bottle and coffee cup straight from the sink back into your tote). R, T, H, I, S
Talk. Have a conversation with friends or workmates about your personal sustainability wins at least twice per week. There are definitely ways you can bring this into conversation by following cues and being subtle. Even if the discussion isn’t centered around climate, there’s a connection between pretty much everything and the climate, right? Just make sure you’re not trying to steer literally every conversation towards it, else you’ll likely soon be ostracized. I mean, not that I’d know. I’m working on an assumption, only. R, E, T, H, I, N, S
Write. Pen a letter (not an email) to your local representative with a very specific problem and solution: talk about the increase in single use plastics you’ve noticed or the issues with recycling currently resulting in increased plastic trash, and suggest that your community needs some further funding for education and public recycling bins and an anti-single use plastic campaign. Have other members of your community sign the letter too, and hand deliver it. R, E, T, I, N, S
Find a community group. Join a group of like minded people for sharing advice and guidance on your journey to sustainability – in person or virtually, depending on the COVID-safe rules where you live. There is a healthy array of groups to join! Use your skills or profession to help climate action: for teachers and students; for lawyers; for farmers; for healthcare workers; for activists; for economists; and for the politically minded. Then for those groups unrelated to your profession: 350.org; Mothers Out Front; Climate Solutions; Sierra Club; and you’ll find a whole list of community organizations, regularly updated, on the Community Climate Collaborative site. While you may not be attending any in person protests, these groups will also be a fab way to get help in writing letters, as per above, and keeping you motivated. R, E, T, H, I, N, S
Switch your household energy supplier. There’s an increasing number which use renewable energy. You might even save money! Check DSIRE to find state based incentives for renewables and efficiency, and on this page of their site you’ll find a huge list of energy based organizations to help you make better energy choices. R, E, T, I, S
Switch banks. Find one which doesn’t fund fossil fuel exploration or extraction. Yes, it’s probably pretty time consuming. But it really is the best way to get your money to do the talking. This is a message, if done collectively, in our millions, which could not be ignored. T, I, S
Shop only thrift. I’ve now hit the milestone of 2 years where I’ve only bought second hand clothing for my daughters and I (excluding underwear). And I can’t tell you how many times it’s something we’ve thrifted which attracts complimentary comments, versus something I bought new, years ago! And the charities we’ve supported as well as money we’ve saved feels awesome. Thoroughly recommend. Slightly more time consuming sometimes, but so worth it. R, E, T, H, I, N, K, S
Meat Free Monday. It’s literally one day per week. So attainable. And there are almost limitless resources, literally thousands, each with thousands of ideas, to get inspiration for recipes to keep your taste buds tantalized. The concept’s namesake is a great start. After a month or two, you might even decide that there are so many yummy recipes to dive into, you’ll do meat free three nights per week! Yay for you!! R, E, T, H, I, N, K, S
Shop Less. Does it get any simpler? Nope. Buy things you need, not things you want. Marketers are paid the big bucks to make you want – it ALL. But be strong. Don’t give in. Did you know that 40% of all online purchases in the US are returned?! 40%!! If that doesn’t prove that people buy far too much with too little thought, I don’t know what does. R, T, I, S
One Zero Waste product per month. When you need to replace a consumable item, like shampoo, soap, toothpaste, sanitary products, washing detergent, etc, you then choose a zero waste version. And there are so many options out there now! R, T, H, I, S
One of the other issues with the old Resolutions, which I eluded to above, is that the expectations are often unrealistic. So I’m not in any way suggesting that you set out to achieve everything on this list! I have no doubt you’ve got other things you want to accomplish this year also – which you can now frame as a RE-THINK to better support yourself on the journey – so make sure you temper your expectations. Once you start achieving, you’ll find achieving will come easier. But alas, the opposite is also true. Little by little, step by step, one foot in front of the other, a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step, one day at a time, baby steps…you get the picture.
Go forth and grab this year gently by the shoulders, bringing it into a warm embrace (ahhh, hugs), and letting it know you’ll care for it as each month passes, and celebrate it when you’ve achieved one more thing this month than last. Be kind. Be energized. Be safe. And be sustainable.
