WHY GOOD RESOLUTIONS ARE COMPLETE NONSENSE

I don't make New Year's resolutions. Haven't for years. I used to, but through trial and error, I know better now. And let me tell you why.

A few weeks before January 1st, you resolved to quit smoking / exercise more / lose weight / stop snacking / drink less / read more / or fill in the blank. It’s wonderful to be able to postpone the elimination of a bad habit for a legitimate reason. “Yeah no, I’m really going to quit, but on January 1st. So I still have about 4 weeks.” Look, no one contradicts you then because it’s “a good resolution” and you feel quite determined about it too. January 1st, a new year, a new beginning.

“Yeah no, I’m really going to quit, but on January 1st. So I still have about 4 weeks.”

Because when you sigh on a Sunday after a weekend of heavy drinking that you really need to do something about those ever-growing love handles, and you’re really going to do that “tomorrow,” then tomorrow comes around pretty damn quickly. “Hmm” you think, as the alarm screams at 07:00 that you need to go to that body pump class, “maybe I’ll just stay in bed a little longer. You know what, I’ll really do it tomorrow. I promise.” And look, that goes on for weeks, and the failure of the resolution isn’t taken too seriously because, well, you can always start next week.

But January 1st is for many the moment to really take themselves in hand. Because on January 1st, the slate is clean and the options are plentiful. A new year! Full of opportunities! And possibilities! This year I’m really going to quit smoking / exercise more / lose weight / stop snacking / drink less / read more / or fill in the blank! But by now, the honeymoon weeks of January are over. It’s just another day, the workdays have started again, and there isn’t much difference between now and two weeks ago.

And you’re still smoking. Just like drinking. Your exercise routine has already halved after one session, and that snacking, well forget it. And the disappointment you have to process then is many times greater because you have to wait a whole year for it to be January 1st again. You haven’t kept your Good Resolution or feel that you’re going to fail within the foreseeable future.

Why would you do this to yourself by starting the year with disappointments and failures?

Good resolutions are nothing more than guaranteed disappointments. Moreover, if you really wanted to quit or wanted to exercise more, you could do that on any random day in the middle of the year. I understand that having a bit of structure can be nice, that setting a date might have a sort of psychological effect on its success, but why would you do this to yourself by starting the year with disappointments and failures?

My good resolution for this year was to start the year positively. And that means I have no good resolutions, and that is the only good resolution that will actually make you happy.