Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Or is it?

In common with many of you I am prone to making “New Year Resolutions” (NYR). One of which is to publish an article each week on words ending in “ion”. 52 glorious, educative, witty missives to entertain and motivate you.

This one will be on NYRs and how they are so often broken before we say goodbye to the month of January! Of which I am already a casualty! You will note that we are well into Week Two of 2025 so you will have to resign yourselves to only having 51 glorious, educative, witty missives in 2025. ‘Procrastination’ (the topic of next week’s article -if I get around to it!) - was the cause for the delay in publishing this one.

Going from the definition above, a degree of discipline is required to act upon a resolution. Be it dealing with;

• a situation with “firm determination” e.g. she climbed the steep, rocky mountain because, to her, there was no alternative (rather her than me!);

• a “firm decision” e.g. she decided that she was going to practice her yoga on a daily basis (I say this too!);

• “a course of action determined or decided on” which to my mind, is very similar to the previous “firm decision” e.g. Her resolution was to only drink alcohol on a Friday and Saturday night (my current situations, with caveats!)

There’s a psychology to making resolutions, particularly NYRs, which is fascinating and has been written about ad nauseum.

Ivo Vlaev, Professor of Behavioural Science, University of Warwick, in his blog states that “New Year’s resolutions represent more than just a fleeting tradition; they offer a powerful opportunity for self-reflection and intentional growth.” He goes on to explain why they are beneficial and, more importantly, how to hack your life in order to implement them.

As this article, published on the American Psychological Association website suggests, whilst resolutions are a good thing, the right place to start isn’t necessarily January 1st. Why is that?

As Freedom Monkey on Substack writes:

To plop the Gregorian new year right in the middle of the depths of winter. In the darkest, coldest period when we are all at our lowest ebb is paramount [sic] to sacrilege. To attempt new years resolutions at this time or all times is most definitely designed to create the maximum failure and disappointment available

That’s one theory, and one I resonate with. I like the idea that we can commit to a resolution regardless of the time of year, indeed I intend from now on to make my resolutions for change whenever I see the need for my personal, physical or environmental growth. However, the more onerous resolutions I will save for springtime, the natural re-birth of our beautiful planet. It is then that our planet stirs and opens herself up. When nature and her rhythms start to beat the drum of renaissance.

So my only NYR’s this year for 2025 are; to publish a series of weekly posts on ‘ions’ (not the ones linked to protons and electrons - they’re NOT my wheelhouse!); a journal (of sorts) about my life as an ex-pat in France - the latter may not be as regular as the former but, as the first two articles in this post suggest, bite size changes are the way to go.

To leave all the other tweaks until Spring.

What’s your take on New Year’s Resolutions? Good? Bad? Indifferent?