And like that we are hit back with reality.
The trees and the lights are coming down, the Christmas classic compilation CDs go back to collecting dust for the next 11 months and even the Bountys have been polished off from the last of the Celebrations boxes.
January is exactly what you make it
The magic of Christmas melts away into the bland new year.
It’s time to go back to work, back to real life, back to the usual routine of daily business. Some of us will be looking to book a holiday to get their next break as soon as possible, others are too skint to even think about planning a getaway just yet.
January is possibly the most disorientating month of the year. We find solace in making New Year’s resolutions - setting goals to work towards, or using it as a ‘tester’ month to see if we can survive 31 days without alcohol or animal products. However you try and dress it up, January is a Christmas comedown. It’s the reluctant asceticism after a December full of hedonism.
It also draws in a lot of reflective thinking. Whilst deciding on our resolutions, we must reflect on our experiences and decisions from the previous year. What could we improve on? What do we want to achieve this coming year? Will we actually stick to it this year?
One way to work out what you really want from this year, is to remember the times throughout the last 12 months when you thought ‘I wish I’d prepared better for this’.
For instance, how many times did you wish you’d saved a bit of extra cash throughout the year to make December a little bit easier?
Did you get to July and wish you’d not ditched exercising mid-February?
New Year’s resolutions often come in the form of extreme life changes overnight. Sometimes things take a little longer to achieve than can be done between 11:59pm on December 31 and 00:01 on January 1.
Going to the gym every day and exhausting yourself in January will only result in a crash and burn style ‘failure’ when the end of the month is reached. Putting £50 aside each week without budgeting properly may end up with dipping into those finances to see you through until payday.
So, don’t put too much pressure on yourself this January. It’s true, we’re all feeling pretty blue after so much festive fun. But improving your life should be a positive thing, not a reason to feel pressured or fed up.
Make goals that are achievable, sustainable and will have a positive impact on your life in the long run. And don’t give up if you don’t feel like you’ve got it together by the 31st of January.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, as they say.
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