Bucks &amp; Oxon

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone wp-image-64015 size-full" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/resolutions-type-writer.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/resolutions-type-writer.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/resolutions-type-writer-150x100.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/resolutions-type-writer-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/resolutions-type-writer-720x480.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
There&#8217;s something wonderfully romantic about New Year&#8217;s Resolutions. I think it&#8217;s the sheer wild hope of them that appeals to me, the determination to succeed in spite of years of never losing weight, carving out me-time, playing board games with kids or moving my French on past voulez vous couchez avec moi (though I have to say, that phrase stood me in good stead through my freedom years).
But we all know it&#8217;s also a kind of insanity to do this every year.
So this time round I didn&#8217;t make January resolutions. I saved them up, minus the ridiculous self-promises, ready to let them loose now in the optimism of spring. A more sensible, inspiring, doable set of will-dos. Real resolutions, ones to keep. And it turns out I&#8217;m not the only one! So if you&#8217;ve fallen off the wagon, read on for some March inspo from these brilliant local businesses, and grab those reins again.
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My Real Resolutions
Hero, Ed-in-Chief, Muddy Stilettos 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64262 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/full-image-of-Hero-in-winser-silk-shirt--e1520928797735.jpg" alt="" width="309" height="288" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/full-image-of-Hero-in-winser-silk-shirt--e1520928797735.jpg 780w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/full-image-of-Hero-in-winser-silk-shirt--e1520928797735-150x139.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/full-image-of-Hero-in-winser-silk-shirt--e1520928797735-300x279.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/full-image-of-Hero-in-winser-silk-shirt--e1520928797735-538x500.jpg 538w" sizes="(max-width: 309px) 100vw, 309px" /> My Spring resolutions are all about being kind to myself (well someone has to do it). I really want to look after my wellbeing this year, because I have a tendency to run myself down. So my focus is all about healthy moderation &#8211; to cook more at home but not to beat myself up on Friday night when I take the kids out for pizza. To drink less, but not guilt-trip myself about a couple of glasses of red on a Friday night. I&#8217;m definitely planning to up my exercise but including yoga and stretching in the mix to calm down as well as tone up. Know what? I&#8217;m not planning on seeing any sharp successes in the next few weeks, but I&#8217;m feeling gentle inclines of wellbeing that I plan to keep working on all year.
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Celine, <a href="http://www.tonicmassage.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tonic Massage</a> 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64268 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/celine-samson-.jpeg" alt="" width="299" height="299" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/celine-samson-.jpeg 450w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/celine-samson--150x150.jpeg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/celine-samson--300x300.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 299px) 100vw, 299px" />
I&#8217;m not usually one for any resolutions, but this month I&#8217;ve started zoning into the power of &#8216;now&#8217; &#8211; something I talk to my clients a lot. I was inspired by a holiday over Christmas with my children (and new grandson) who all lives overseas and it made me think about moving closer to my own deepest wishes and needs &#8211; not to waste time leaving my plans for yet another year. So my priority is to undertake two big trips; one work-related which takes me to Sedona, Arizona and the other is a journey to Kerala, India. I hope to explore some (possible) family roots which excites me no end. This has been on my wish list for many years. I am grinning from ear to ear and plan reinvest the skills and experience I complete whilst out there back into the training school; good for me and good for students.
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Sophie, <a href="https://sophiescookeryschool.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sophie&#8217;s Cookery School</a> 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class=" wp-image-64266 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/Sophie-Grigson.png" alt="" width="294" height="294" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/Sophie-Grigson.png 381w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/Sophie-Grigson-150x150.png 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/Sophie-Grigson-300x300.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px" />
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The best New Year&#8217;s resolution I ever made, and the only one I&#8217;ve kept successfully, is never to make another New Year&#8217;s resolution.! Grey January is too miserable a month to make changes. Far better to wait until spring when everything seems more possible and hopeful. Spotting a cowslip in the field and sniffing the first waft of wild garlic in the woods is, for me, a far more positive spring board for new ideas.
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Renee, <a href="http://www.curiosity-box.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Curiosity Box</a> 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64263 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/curiosity-box--e1520928698330.jpg" alt="" width="301" height="310" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/curiosity-box--e1520928698330.jpg 607w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/curiosity-box--e1520928698330-146x150.jpg 146w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/curiosity-box--e1520928698330-291x300.jpg 291w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/curiosity-box--e1520928698330-486x500.jpg 486w" sizes="(max-width: 301px) 100vw, 301px" />
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I&#8217;ve decided I really needed to make myself more &#8216;available&#8217; at home. The first little change (that feels very big!) is to ban mobile phones upstairs. No more last minute email check before bed! The other thing I have resolved to do is unsubscribe from all the emails I get that I really don&#8217;t want! This has felt SO GOOD!
There is a tangible time saving benefit from all the emails I no longer need to delete from my inbox, but the biggest thing has been the psychological impact of not having that split second panic every time I look at my inbox and see hundreds of new emails.
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Poonam, <a href="https://www.holycowhome.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Holy Cow Home</a> 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64264 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/poonam-holy-cow-e1520928631955.jpg" alt="" width="295" height="289" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/poonam-holy-cow-e1520928631955.jpg 736w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/poonam-holy-cow-e1520928631955-150x147.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/poonam-holy-cow-e1520928631955-300x293.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/poonam-holy-cow-e1520928631955-511x500.jpg 511w" sizes="(max-width: 295px) 100vw, 295px" />
It&#8217;s the third anniversary of Holy Cow Home this month, my interiors shop in Aylesbury, and it&#8217;s made me reflect on the last few years of my life. I&#8217;ve realised it&#8217;s time to stop doing absolutely everything myself, be less of a control freak and learn to take help, get the work balance scales a little closer (but not entirely balanced &#8211; there has to be room for fluctuations to keep things interesting!). This is the year for action not procrastination, all those ideas that I was thinking about doing, are going to be done &#8211; a growth plan, a full-time staff member so I can spend time working on the business rather than &#8216;in&#8217; it, SEO, an accountant! While we keep on living we keep on learning, I&#8217;m excited about that.
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Sandra Brooks, <a href="http://www.dropit21.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DROPiT21</a> 
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-64269 alignleft" src="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/sandra-brooks-.jpg" alt="" width="253" height="220" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/sandra-brooks-.jpg 500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/sandra-brooks--150x130.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/03/sandra-brooks--300x260.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px" />
My Spring resolution is to get to bed earlier. Often people say that they are either a night owl or up with the larks, but like so many things in life I end up trying to be all things to all people and end up doing both! Not great when I am up most mornings by 6am. Being in the health and fitness industry I am always telling people how important quality sleep is to their general wellbeing, so it’s time to start practising what I preach …. so 2018 is the year that I WILL stop burning the midnight oil and get to bed earlier. It’s here now in print, so I HAVE to do it!

Real 2018 Resolutions

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