Did you make any new year’s resolutions this year? If you’ve already given up on your plans, you’re not alone. Friday was Quitter’s Day, but all is not lost. There’s still time to rethink your goals for 2024.
Welcome to week 48 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to rethinking your goals for 2024, this week’s edition looks at houseplant appreciation day and decluttering kitchen drawers.
On my mind this week: It’s never too late to rethink your goals
This past Friday was Quitter’s Day, a day set aside to encourage people who’ve given up on their goals and equip them to succeed. If you’re struggling to keep up with your new year’s resolutions, you’re not alone. Research shows that 80% of people who make new year’s resolutions have already given up on them by the middle of January.
Whenever I’m tempted to throw in the towel, I always hear Dory from Finding Nemo saying, “Just keep swimming!” But despite Dory’s wise words, swimming..or running…or writing…aimlessly without a plan probably won’t get you to your destination.
Why resolutions fail
A good starting point to get back on track is to consider why you haven’t been able to follow through on your good intentions.
Most resolutions fail because they are either too vague or too ambitious. If you’re a lifelong couch potato, a vague statement like “I will get in shape” probably won’t translate into action. At the other end of the spectrum, saying “I will run a marathon this year” is too ambitious.
Changing that vague wish into a specific and achievable action like “I will walk 10 minutes every day in January” is more likely to keep you motivated and on track.
So, if you’re already feeling like a failure, don’t give up. Pick your main theme or goal for the year, and then identify tiny habits that will move you in the right direction. For some extra motivation, check out the post I published on Wise & Shine on New Year’s Day. A Blank Page – Write Your Best Chapter in 2024 outlines five steps to help set you up for success in 2024.
And as you rethink your goals, keep in mind that you still have 50 more weeks in 2024 to make progress. All is not lost.
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Three highlights of the week
It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:
- I’ve already received some interest in the pilot Second Life Vision workshop that I’m planning for April. You can learn more about that in last week’s edition of The Sunday Spark.
- I’m so grateful I don’t have to go anywhere this weekend as we’re experiencing a major winter storm.
- Last weekend, I finished putting away the rest of the Christmas decorations. Although it’s sad that Christmas is over for another year, it’s nice to get the space back. It has renewed my motivation to declutter.
Things I learned this week
It has been a quiet week on the learning front as I’ve been busy preparing for my Second Life Vision workshop. With that in mind, I could say I’ve learned that I had forgotten how long it takes to put a 6-hour workshop together. But on a positive note, I prefer to say I’m relearning things I had forgotten from my training and development days.
Even so, here’s an interesting tidbit I picked up this week.
Houseplant Appreciation Day
Are you a fan of houseplants? If you are, you might know January 10 was Houseplant Appreciation Day. It’s a day dedicated to celebrating the beauty and benefits of houseplants. (Source: Happy Eco News)
I first wrote about the benefits of indoor plants in this post from 2022. I’ve lost a few of those plants but the ones that remain are thriving. The “desk plant” I referred to in that post has outgrown my desk and now sits in a pot on the living room floor, and my spider plant continues to produce babies.
This week’s decluttering challenge – Kitchen drawers
In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was decluttering kitchen drawers. After a slow start in week one, I’m happy to report I decluttered 36 items from my kitchen drawers. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.
If you’re new to the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.
I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.
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I love Dory and whenever I am struggling with completing something, I always tell myself to ‘just keep swimming’.
Me too! As long as we’re moving forward, it’s all good. Thanks Ranjana. I wish you a great week!
Create goals that aren’t too vague or ambitious. Good advise!
Hope you are weathering the storm. Have a great week, Michelle!
Thanks Wynne. The sun is actually shining today, but it’s very cold.
I always get jealous when you get snow. We were promised some this week but the weather front is lower down than expected and will affect France etc instead.
I admit the fresh white snow is much nicer than the dreary foggy weather we had at Christmas.
I promise I’ll settle down…but I didn’t take the time to celebrate ‘quitters day’ on Friday so I’m giggling about all the opportunities I missed. A free pass to…take a pass on stuff? LOL! 🤣
Ha ha, Vicki. Yes, imagine the party we could have had for Quitter’s Day! A chance to fully indulge in all of our vices for a day.
You know me too well….my mind went straight to our mutual goal about limiting our consumption of our favorite sweet treats! LOL! Free pass day! 🤣🥰🤣
Mounds and mounds of candy! I’m in. 😂
Ah…we’re a terrible twosome, aren’t we????
We certainly are.
🥰🥰🥰
It’s crazy to imagine, but even in the motor home-which we live in-our two kitchen drawers are stuffed with crap we probably harlybever use! I definitely need to remedy this and was already thinking that when I read your post! Good one, Michelle.
Thanks Kim. Good luck with your decluttering. Here’s to more space!
Well who knew that there was an official Quitters Day and also a day to appreciate houseplants! I literally think there must be a designated day for just about everything anymore. Remember the times when we just lived life not feeling a need to mark every day as something special 🙂
My drawers are looking good, and splendidly roomy- just the right amount of stuff and the ability to find what I need!
Ha ha. You’re right, Deb. There is a day for everything. My husband checks the “Days of the year” calendar every day and some of them are so silly.
Glad to hear your drawers are in good shape. Mine weren’t too bad because I have tried really hard to keep them that way after my first round of decluttering.
In spite of the fact that I am very much into decluttering, I have never thought about my kitchen drawers. Good idea Michelle!
Thanks Cristiana. Many people think “out of sight, out of mind” when it comes to clutter, but overstuffed drawers mean we spend more time searching for things.