MY 2024 New Years Resolutions, the Manifesto of an ADHD Senior
I read recently that New Years Resolutions are a perfect elixir for ADHD brains, providing motivating factors, including “novelty, competition, interest, and pressure.” https://www.addept.org/living-with-adult-adhd/new years-resolution-adult-adhd #. Apparently, even if you haven’t succeeded with them in the past, an ever-present ADHD danger, New Years Resolutions, particularly for ADHD brains, “conjure motivation” which “comes gift wrapped and optimized,” even though they can be recipes for disaster because ADHD brains typically are horrible at anything requiring “planning, consistency, and persistence,” the mainstay of these resolutions.
I can appreciate New Years Resolution failures. I’ve fallen off the wagon many times in the past leaving me feeling like a hopeless failure. But I also can’t seem to resist a challenge, so when I was asked, “What’s Your New Years Resolutions and What Strategy Are You Going to Try,” my ADHD tenacity kicked in and I was off and running.
My first challenge was to come up with a strategy and then to come up with a strategy to remember the strategy. I’ve never been great at New Years Resolution strategizing or remembering stuff. I’m a “go with the flow” kind of gal. But I can “think outside of the box.” So, I dug deep into my childhood for a technique I frequently used to jog my memory back then. Now at seventy-five, I’ll use that technique again. Just a tiny bit of irony there. I’ll use what’s called an “acrostic, or “a piece of writing in which a particular set of letters-typically the first letter of each line, word, or a paragraph spells out a word or phrase with special significance to the text,” https://www.litcharts.com, such as “every good boy does fine,” or E, G, B, D, F, the notes on the lines of the treble clef. Now, who could ever forget that one? An acrostic can also be referred to as a mnemonic. I decided on “KEEP IT UP” for my acrostic. It would be the umbrella. Each letter would be one of its ribs and together they would work as a whole.
Keep it simple.
Embrace your humanness.
Exude confidence.
Practice, practice, practice.
It’s ok to fail and then try again.
Trying is better than not trying.
Use your wits.
Pat yourself on the back often.
My second challenge was writing the resolutions themselves. For the sake of ease, and given my ADHD brain’s need for simple clarity especially if my memory is at play, I broke each resolution down into categories, “Health, Finances, Family, Friends, Writing, and Maddie.” I would use bullets under each category to help with focus and to help me from getting bogged down in the weeds.
HEALTH:
Exercise Walk every day. Zumba three times a week. Get back into TRX. Continue PT to restore my rotator cuff and bicep to optimal efficiency after my 2023 surgery. Use my home gym wall more frequently.
Diet Intermittent fast, 8 hours on, 16 hours off. No caffeine. Dry January. Limit alcohol, processed foods, sugar, salt, and red meat. Eat more fruit and vegetables. Increase daily water intake.
Sleep Continue working with my sleep doctor to manage my insomnia. Investigate dental appliances for sleep apnea. Lose ten pounds. Lights out by 10:00pm. Limit electronic use after 8:00pm.
Stress Practice mindfulness. Use movement & music to relieve anxiety and manage ADHD challenges. Honor boundaries. Depend on self to resolve conflicts. Meet with my life coach monthly. Watch triggers, take timeouts rather than engage. Try to be a better listener. Practice gratefulness. Give myself a break. Tell my inner critic to take a hike. Hug myself daily.
FINANCES:
Establish New Budget
Be realistic. Review monthly, adjust as needed. Stick to it. Avoid impulse buying. Try to love numbers.
Produce Income Rent
our vacation home April through October. Sell my Houston property. Market and sell Books 1 & 2 in the “Maddie’s Tails” series.
FAMILY:
My Husband
Travel more. Hike/kayak weekly. Strive to communicate better when expressing my needs and wants. Watch impulsive outbursts….count to 10 or take a time out. Weekly date nights. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Ask for more hugs and kisses. Accept differences. Appreciate each other daily.
My Grandkids
Try to spend more time with them with or without their parents. Stay in touch weekly via text, phone, social media even if they’re busy. Be knowledgeable and interested in what they like to do. Tell them you love them often. Listen. Encourage them to believe in themselves and respect differences, theirs, and others. Be straight forward and honest when answering their questions. Offer my shoulder when needed. Tell them “to reach for the stars but keep one toe on the ground.”
My Kids
Text once a week even if they don’t respond. Tell them you love them often. Stay on your own side of the street. Be interested in what they do. Respect their privacy. Be supportive. Don’t argue. Accept them for who they are. Treat them like adults.
FRIENDS:
Stay away from toxic people. Treat friends the way I want to be treated. Appreciate their differences. Be grateful every day for their friendship.
WRITING:
Write daily.
Finish my nonfiction book proposal, “Aging Proactively with ADHD.”
Submit my nonfiction book proposal to traditional publishers and “beg” them to pick it up.
Write the story ARC for Book 3 of the “Maddie’s Tails” series.
Believe in myself and forge ahead.
Find more beta readers. Don’t take “no” for an answer.
Participate in author’s events.
Leave a legacy.
MADDIE:
Continue her therapy dog training.
Have her evaluated for the “Reading with Rover” program in April.
Be accepted in the “Reading with Rover” program, and if not the first time, keep trying.
Visit schools and libraries with her to read books from the “Maddie’s Tails” series.
Participate with her in independent bookstore author events.
Appreciate that she gives me more than I ever could give her.
Do what she likes to do.
Take care of her health.
Love and hug her every day.
Now that the “was” is out of the way, enter the “is and my third and final challenge. Do all the above. Yikes! Have I bitten off more than I could chew? Are my New Years Resolutions and my Strategy to implement them too ambitious? Has my “no one’s perfect” meter malfunctioned? Is my ADHD brain in overdrive? Am I setting myself up for failure? What happened to “less is more?” Only time will tell.
See you on December 31, 2024, as the ball in Times Square begins to fall just a few minutes before midnight.