Why I Resolve Not to Make New Year’s Resolutions

Photo by freestocks.org: https://www.pexels.com/photo/graphing-paper-with-text-288394/

I’m going to keep this newsletter short because I know many of you are busy with end of year stuff, and hopefully some fun as we say goodbye to 2023. But I wanted to touch briefly on that time-honored tradition of making resolutions for the year ahead.

I did away with making New Year’s resolutions quite a number of years ago because… well, what could I possibly improve on, other than maybe being too humble?

Actually, the reason I don’t participate in that particular popular holiday tradition is that I don’t think its usually very useful.

Significant change requires strong, lasting motivation and if you couldn’t find adequate motivation to eat better, exercise more, get more sleep, work on managing stress better, etc. in the prior year, I wouldn’t expect that to magically change just because a new year has started.

So rather than resolving to do or be better as of January 1st, I find it more useful to reflect on the prior year, taking time to appreciate the good things that happened, accepting the bad, and considering what my priorities and purpose are for the short and long term future.

If that reflection brings up something that I wish to change or improve on, I consider how I might be able to do that and what I’m willing to do to make it happen. So, no big, “I resolve to [fill in lofty New Year’s resolution here],” just what do I want to change, how might I go about changing it in a way that works for me, and when might I set about doing it.

But I definitely try to focus more on what’s already good and appreciating that, because it’s easy to take things for granted and, despite what problems and challenges we might face, there’s still usually at least a few things to be grateful for and happy about.

I wish everyone safe New Year’s celebrations and a happy and healthy 2024!

Until next time…

George Best, D.C.