Kaizen

This year, too, like every new year, I was tempted to make a list of resolutions. If you know me a bit, you know I like planning, I like making lists and I like crossing items off them (a habit I have kept from my uni years, when M. and I would split a task into a hundred mini-tasks so we would have more things to cross off).

New year resolutions are indeed a fine thing. However, as I get older the list gets longer and most years I get to day 365/6 (yes, this year has an extra day, we all know that by now) and realise that I have achieved/crossed off the list only one or two objectives. Luckily there are no psychologists among the readers of this blog (as far as I know), so we can pretend there's nothing wrong with me setting overly ambitious goals and only reaching 1.5% of them. Let's face it: our goals and objectives can change along the way, there's nothing wrong with that, if you ask me. What I do find disturbing is the tendency of giving up that is so typical of new year resolutions. We all kick off thinking we are going to always make the time for a healthy and relaxed breakfast, we are going to exercise every day, we'll only have chocolate every other day, we'll drink more water and only work 8 hours per day, we'll read for half an hour every evening, find the time to call a friend every night and see a friend every weekend, do the dishes after every meal, go to bed early...

Believe me, I have tried. I have tried so very hard to do all of this, but it's pointless. I know for a fact that I hardly ever have breakfast, and when I do it consists of a cup of coffee with milk (if there's any left in my perpetually empty fridge). I also know that I cannot possibly spend a day without chocolate (once I tried...until on the fourth day I thought my head was going to explode and the challenge was over). Same goes for working hours...and hell no, I cannot go to bed early! 

The point is that starting to do things knowing that you'll have to keep doing them all year long it's daunting. That is why this year I am going to follow the kaizen technique. As Meredith Grey once said (yes, I am sorry, I am still hooked): "Progress is made of small steps forward".

As for my wishes to you, gentle readers, here they go :)