Nairobi News

Congratulations, dear reader, you’ve made it into 2023. You’ve overcome the global Covid-19 pandemic, you’ve lived to see a war begin in Ukraine when all you’ve ever heard or seen of wars was read of them in History books or binge-watched them in movies and you survived and are continuing to survive Kenya’s historical inflation rates. Congratulations.

And now, as the world stereotypically embarks on writing up those 2023 New Year resolutions in their diaries, on those posh wall-mounted glass day-planner calendars that Kenyan Instagram influencers seem to be having a chama to buy one for themselves and in the mobile phone apps, here are a few resolutions I feel we should leave behind in 2022 moving forward.

1. Go on a diet- When I say this, I mean those crash-course diets that will make you lose or add weight fast. It is neither healthy nor sustainable; and, most of the time, expensive to maintain. Also, why should it take the beginning of a new year to remind you to change your diet? You can easily do this in the middle of April or November and still make a difference in your life.
2. Lose weight- this has become a pseudo prayer for millions worldwide as they usher in the New Year. All their New Year journal entries begin with losing weight. My friend, if you did not feel motivated to exercise and work on your body for twelve months, why do you feel the New Year will change that? I’d like to think it’s because you were comfortable with your body, and you’re just being influenced by bandwagon social media posts to lose weight. And think about this, sometimes, it’s not your body. It’s probably the clothes you wear that aren’t bringing out the best of what you’re walking around. Don’t let social media algorithms flooding your feeds with weight loss before and after photos mess up your mentality about your physical appearance. Those photos usually show people who underwent some type of weight loss/addition procedures but would never reveal it to the public. Instead of killing yourself to lose weight, why don’t you just change your dressing style?
3. Save more money- More will never be enough. You can never have enough money, and you can never save enough money. You will always want to do more, so save what you can and live your life comfortably within your means. Don’t let external pressure make you think what you saved during the year wasn’t good enough just because they saved a little bit more than you. Do you believe in your capacity to do what you can and have a good consciousness about how you went about getting that money and saving it.
4. Travel more- Unless you are a researcher, travel and adventure content creator, vehicle driver or travelling professional, this is not an important New Year’s resolution to have. Travelling more is spending more. Also, why do you want to travel? For pleasure? For social media bragging rights? Fear of missing out? Do you have tons of idle money lying around to keep up with a resolution? Do you have too many vacation days? Are you fluid enough to up and pack up your bags and your family (if any) just to hit the road for a few days of excitement to fulfil a resolution to travel more? Think again and find a better way to spend that money!
5. Learn a new skill- This is not a New Year resolution. This is and should be an everyday resolution. Learn a new skill- preferably one that can earn you passive income. Go for unique skills, not those that have flooded markets and make it a mission to make you nonexpendable with these same skills. Don’t make this a resolution because others are doing the same. What they choose may not work for you. Evaluate yourself every day and figure out your passion and strengths; then figure out how you can develop them into skills that will prop you up for greater benefits.

Do you know of any more resolutions that should be binned as we go into 2023?

Do let us know…

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