Hello, January. Hello, 2016.

Last year, I made a simple and broad New Year’s resolution, inspired by a blogger I follow who had used it the year before.

The resolution was to ‘do more of what makes me happy, and less of what doesn’t’.

What I loved about this was that it gave me the power to decide what to do, and how to conduct myself.

It made me think before accepting things I was unsure about.

It made me value the times I loved, and arrange more of them.

And it’s not a resolution you can ‘fail’.

If you say you’ll go to the gym a certain number of times a week, for example, and then one week you don’t, you’ve ‘failed’.

With my resolution, it was ok to have a bad day, or week, or even period of weeks.

You could still get back on track.

Because life isn’t always plain sailing, and a year is a long time.

But I think this resolution was the perfect continuation of what I had started the year before: starting to make decisions with my happiness and wellbeing in mind.

It’s now much more rare that I say yes to an invitation just because I feel like I ‘should’.

When I do things, or see people, it’s because I really want to do it, or really want to see that person. 

Usually both.

And reflecting back on what has been a busy, busy year, I would say that resolution made on 1^st January served me well.

I’ve spent my time with amazing people, ones I’ve known for years and ones I hadn’t even met pre-2015.

I’ve had experiences I’ve loved, or done things I’ve wanted to do for years.

I’ve challenged myself, I’ve taken the scary route at times, and I’ve had to be really honest with myself about where I’m heading and what I want.

So has my resolution been successful?

Yes.

And I’d say that now it has become a state of mind.

I don’t think I could stop approaching things in this way, now.

I’ve become more positive, I’ve been braver, and I’ve tried new things.

So here’s to a great 2015, and here’s to making 2016 even brighter.