Tell me why I don’t like (Blue) Monday’s….

However many robots, apps, and James Corden raps arrive to help us stay strong, chances are your New Year resolution is already knackered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORq6O5x0zOQ

The fact is that the dawning of a new year is more about the sun (the yellow ball, not the red rag) and some astrological chops than it is a Highlander-style quickening, or some cosmic sea-change. Nope, sans fairy dust or act of god it’s the same old fallible, flawed you you drag into the new year. Kicking and screaming is optional. 

Fallible humans defined the significance of January 1st, thus fallible humans have fallibly failed at new year promises ever since that science guy rubber-stamped the Western calendar. 

No surprises then that by the first weekend of January you’re 25% likely to have abandoned your self-improvement push and by January’s third (or Blue) Monday, it’s 50% probable you’ve blown it. I’ve waited until today to post it to really emphasise the point.

In fact, just 8% of us will actually ‘make’ our resolutions, the rest of us will break them … break them up into tiny shards of failure. 

The collective #epicfail is what researchers call ‘False Hope Syndrome’ – when a person over-estimates their will, and power, and will power, and sets an overly ambitious goal like it’s easy peasy pie.

I, when planning this blog, flirted with the idea of flopping onto the get healthy/ new-year-new-you bandwagon by writing something for the change-hungry. It’s (still) early(ish) January and plenty of writers get good mileage out of half-baked theories on starting new habits, or killing old ones. 

But I stopped writing my Ten Step Executive Mind, Body and Soul Workout, and I deleted the Jemima Bird Elite Yoga for 2016 vid series from YouTube*. I had me a mini moment of clarity, but we’ll get back to that … 

Thanks for asking, Christmas time at Bird HQ was cracking. I had a significant amount of champagne (no real surprise), I watched an outstanding amount of cricket (well there was a Test Match on), I overate (who doesn’t love another mince-pie with brandy cream) and I recharged the batteries (aka overslept). In previous years, I’d view festive overindulgence like going into my overdraft – as a debt I’d need to pay back.

But here’s the thing, we all probably had some element of a challenging, tough, twisty-turny 2015. If we can’t, without condition of payback, reward ourself at the rewardingest time of the year, then what’s the point of any of this?

Fruit and veg are (probably) good, drinking water probably helps, staying in shape is most (probably) definitely worthwhile, plentiful sleep’s (probably) healthy, combatting stress is (probably) clever, and having good, positive people around you is (probably) advisable. Smoking’s (probably) bad, too (well, we know it is but you get my drift). 

If you agree with these probables, and you probably do, then you probably know what fit and healthy is. Heck, I dragged myself around 300 odd miles of 2005 Ashes Test Ground venues on a bike for charity and New York’s marathon in 2015 in a “let’s tick off an epic run” moment**. None of us needs an annual reminder of where we come up short – and we shouldn’t feel obliged to attempt self-rehab that’s, for 92% of us, doomed anyway. 

… So my moment of Christmas clarity was that lean resolutions leave me dead inside. Vices, shortcomings, indulgences – these shouldn’t be seen as toxic sludge one needs to bail out of their life, but as the necessary fuel that keeps our passion, drive, and joie de vivre burning. It’s our reward for braving life’s twists and turns.

Your gymlessness, your caffeination, your late nights, your consumption – they’re but the glorious Yin which rewards the slog of the professional Yang. In sum, and in English, I’ll embrace my (and your) shortcomings this year. I’ll see them as a credit to all of us, not as debt to pay back. 

I say be the person that that owns their lot, good bad and ugly. And I’m looking forward to plenty of all three this year. 

*no such video series ever existed or was ever conceived….
** I did this to raise awareness for Team Margot – please check it out: https://www.teammargot.com

- See more at: https://www.jbirdconsulting.co.uk/tell-me-why-i-dont-like-blue-mondays/#sthash.PYY84JQk.dpuf

The Jbird Blog

Credit: Ally Millar