Are New Year's Resolutions a Waste of Time?
I've never been big on making New Year's resolutions.Part of it was a bit of hubris - if I wanted to do something, I wouldn't need to make a vow at the start of the year to make it happen. Part of it was realism - if I needed to do something, making a promise to myself about it at the start of the new year wasn't going to make it happen.If I wanted to make a change, I would have to truly want to make the change, and the time of year wasn't going to make much of a difference.It's no surprise that most resolutions, right after the overindulgent holiday period, involve getting fit, taking care of oneself, or otherwise bettering yourself.A study by the University of Scranton in an edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychology last year listed these as the top 10 New Year's Resolutions:
- Lose Weight
- Getting Organized
- Spend Less, Save More
- Enjoy Life to the Fullest
- Staying Fit and Healthy
- Learn Something Exciting
- Quit Smoking
- Help Others in Their Dreams
- Fall in Love
- Spend More Time with Family
Note that some of these - such as "Fall in Love" - aren't things you can really "resolve" to do. And most of the rest sound like things that you do after the chaos and indulgence of the holiday season. I read one article that pointed out that resolutions have more to do with procrastination than motivation, and that rang true for me, Queen of Procrastination."I won't eat any more of the kids' candy after New Year's," I told myself last week. But, of course, they're out of school until Monday, the 5th, so that kind of became the default deadline. I mean, the holiday was sort of still going on, with New Year's on a Thursday, the world quiet on Friday and though the weekend.I always tell people that if they don't give me a deadline, I'm just not gonna get it done. I'm not proud of myself for that; it's just the truth. I know myself.So, this year, I vow to only make promises to myself that I know I'll keep. Or will at least try to keep. That's about the closest I'm gonna come to a New Year's Resolution.How about you?