Six resolutions that ensure 2015 will be a brave new world for you.
1. Join a team. A netball team, a choir, a dance group - something where other people depend on you. If you're normal, you'll find this mildly terrifying, and many of us run a mile from team activities as soon as we escape school. But this is exactly why it's just what your 2015 needs: when other people rely on you, you'll be a hundred times more motivated to stick at it, to improve, and to succeed.
2. Book a holiday alone. Ease in gently with a yoga weekender, bootcamp or a guided trek, or bite the bullet and take yourself to Berlin for a weekend wandering around museums. There's nothing more
liberating than doing exactly what YOU need, right now.
3. Take a course. Jan and February are the mehest of months, so give your winter some structure with a weekly course or nightclass. In recent years I've taken a dressmaking course , a burlesque dancing course and a flying trapeze course. A winter course is now one of my most cherished annual traditions.
4. Trade in a bad habit for a good habit. Here's the thing about habits: kicking a bad one is hard. Replacing it with a good one, however, is psychologically easier - you aren't left with a void in your life. If your morning Starbucks habit is making you jittery (and broke), invest in a Nutribullet and get creative with your morning smoothies. Can't resist two-screening in front of the TV? Stash your laptop in the other room and start giving yourself pedicures in front of the TV instead.
5. Take your social life off autopilot. Ever feel like you spend too much time with people who don't really matter - like work colleagues - and then wind up too tired/busy to see friends and family you really value? You're smarter than this. Make a list of the five people you want to prioritise seeing in the first half of 2015, and save them as Favourites in your contact list. Contact them over the holidays and arrange some face-to-face time in January. And the golden rule: don't say goodbye to them without making a firm plan for another date in your diaries.
6. Don't play the blame game. Listen to the voice inside your head. If she's internally ranting at you for "letting yourself go" or "being lazy and rubbish," tell that hater to shut up! "Many of us make it very easy to feel bad about ourselves, and very hard to feel good," says Dr Libby Weaver, a holistic nutrition specialist. "Take a zero-tolerance approach with negative self-talk. Replace "I need to lose weight," with "I am losing weight." Replace "I look so run-down," with "I'm eating well and am looking better and better."