DID you make any New Year's Resolutions – or New Year's Revelations as my hubby jokingly calls them.

I always sigh and roll my eyes when he says this, but instead of asking him to make a New Year's Resolution never to say it again, I started to think his mis-description had some merit.

What we decide to give up – or pledge to do come January 1st each year – is quite revealing isn't it?

You don't need a psychology degree or a crystal ball to crack the secret code of most people's resolutions.

Pledging to lose some pounds most likely means you're overweight and don't like that fact.

Vowing to give up drink probably signifies you believe you like a tipple a little too much.

Promising to join a gym appears to be an admission you're a bit of a couch potato, happier bingeing box sets than taking a boxercise class.

I used to make resolutions each year. For a while, I would publish them in this column – making a public record in the hope that I would be more likely to stick by them. By and large, that worked. Moreover, it was helpful, allowing me to look back and see what I was unhappy with that I wanted to change.

But in recent years I've stopped making resolutions – though not stopped asking people about theirs.

I'm fascinated by what people want to change and achieve, and really admire those who set goals and are driven to achieve them.

And if I'm honest, there's a spot of jealousy at play. I am a little bit envious of people with dreams, whether big or small. I admire their imagination to come up with challenges and projects as well as how they find the energy to pursue them.

We have friends who are super-fit and do all sorts of extreme sporting challenges as well as organise adventurous holidays to far-flung corners of the globe. In comparison, my long-held wish to run a 10K and holiday in a lighthouse seem rather pedestrian – and yet I've still not managed to tick these off the bucket list.

Ironically, last year, I failed to make any New Year's Resolutions, yet found myself by the end of January busy with three new "directions". The first was going on a proper diet and managing to lose a chunk of weight; the second was to resign as captain of my tennis team after nine years in the role and free up more time to do something else; and that "something else" turned out to be setting up a small business to run alongside my part-time role at The Press.

So what have I done this year? I resisted making any formal resolutions until I came into the office on January 2nd and the entire features team (all three of us!) decided to make some. My colleagues' are not for publication, but I did note them in my diary, for easy reference. Just as well, because checking today, we all needed to be reminded about what we had pledged to do.

Three of mine were, in no particular order, to (a) save money (b) cycle more and (c) avoid the office biscuit tin. Nine days in, and that's going OK-ish – I even managed a 20-mile bike ride at the weekend.

However, taking heart from 2018, I am trusting that new directions and possibilities might somehow mystically cross my path in the weeks to come.

Perhaps now is the time formally to announce another resolution – and that is to say "yes" to these opportunities and see where they might take me.

Good luck with yours!