Every year we tell ourselves lies about all the great things we’re going to accomplish next year. With the New Year stretched out in front of us, it’s easy to make up some wild resolution that we think we’re going to stick to. But have we ever actually stuck to a New Year’s resolution the whole way through?

It might be because the resolutions we set are too unrealistic, or because we were drunk at the time we proclaimed our goals for next year. But when that count down begins, here are some New Year’s resolutions we just shouldn’t make.

Start Going To The Gym

Why is the gym even a requirement for getting fit? There are so many other fun ways to get fit without signing our lives away to something we’ll probably end up hating in a couple of weeks.

The gym is boring. The gym is hard. The gym is expensive. Maybe instead of a vague “working out” goal, how about we join a soccer team or kickboxing class instead? It sounds much more badass and our goal will be more focused. Game on, fam.

Finding True Love

Sorry guys, but we can’t just “decide” to find the love of our lives this year. Unfortunately for us it doesn’t work that way or we would’ve been skipping into the sunset with our baes by now.

Single life can be hard, especially when we’ve been through a bad breakup and want to feel that same kind of love again. But love doesn’t come our way just because we declare that we’re ready now. It’ll take time, so let’s be patient. And you know what they say, all good things come to those who wait.

Stop Eating Out

Because 80 per cent of our paychecks go to food, we all know the struggle is real. But saying that we’re no longer going to be spending any money on food is just unrealistic. I mean could we really go through the whole year without having a nuggies? Even so, it’s nice to treat ourselves to dinner with friends sometimes. Maybe just tweak this resolution by saying we’ll only spend money on food once a fortnight. And then if you want, gradually decrease this throughout the year.

Live A Stress-Free Life

This is like someone telling us to “stop being depressed” or “stop being anxious”. If we had the option to stop these feelings we would’ve done it a long time ago. Same goes with being stressed.

Instead, let’s take a look at exactly what’s causing strain on our lives and focus on one thing at a time. If it’s work, maybe cut down our hours. If it’s uni, let’s make sure to talk regularly with our lecturers or buy a planner to help us get organised. If we tackle things step by step, it’ll seem like less of a big job and much more achievable.

Travel More

OK so we’ve booked a spontaneous one-way ticket to Europe and that’s great, but what about our job/uni/pets/ bills/rent/partner? The list goes on. Although travelling is great, it doesn’t need to be a New Year’s resolution per se.

Travelling takes time, thought and most importantly money. So, booking a spontaneous trip with our bestie on New Year’s Eve may seem like a great idea at the time, but odds are it’s something we might regret in the near future. Do the right thing and plan holidays when we’re sober.

Sophie Nicolas is studying a bachelor of arts in creative writing and is an aspiring writer, dog enthusiast and thrift shop fashion icon.

(Lead image: Kath & Kim / ABC)