It seems that the majority start out the year with some new life changing commitment (or last year’s rehashed that didn’t get done, so they’re going to make it this year). This is going to sound a bit negative, but I’m just calling a spade a spade. I’ve been around long enough to see the pattern of how this works.
I wrote about how quickly people abandon their resolutions a while back. It tells me just how committed people really are, or are they just giving lip service to fit in with the crowd?
Well, here are 5 Of The Worst New Year’s Resolutions And Why They Are Destined To Fail.
Oh, I see them crowding the gym in January. By March and sometimes February, it’s back to normal. They get in the way, and I can look at them and know who’s going to make it or not in January. Oh, they have on their new gym suit and sneakers, but that will be in the back of the closet in weeks.
This goes along with losing weight. With GLP-1 shots and pills now, it’s easier to be the Jetsons and take a pill rather than put in the work.
I’ve got news for you. It will come back to haunt you after 50. You can’t get youth back. You have to fight off health issues your whole life. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s hard work that takes tenacity.
The same goes for eating healthier. It’s hard to do. You have to make your own meal to know what is in it. I’ve noticed the trend of having food delivered from a restaurant. They make it tasty, but as unhealthy as you’d imagine. People take the path of least resistance, so they stop making their own food and start ordering pretty quickly, or go out to eat. You pay more to be less healthy.
I don’t have a lot to say about the travel. It sucks worse each year. I try not to fly anymore because the whole experience isn’t worth it. There isn’t much I have to see, either people or places that would make me want to suffer the current airline experience. They cram more people into smaller seats, making fewer arrivals/departures on time. The planes are dirty and are alarmingly less reliable.
What I will say is people get over hyped about escaping, more than they really want to go somewhere new. The introvert in me doesn’t make me want to visit anyone, but that’s me. If they are in driving distance, I’ll consider the minimal time I have to suffer seeing them.
Learning a new skill? That probably lasts shorter than going to the gym. I bet DuoLingo has a ton of new accounts next week that get abandoned shortly because it’s hard work to learn a new language.
Passion
To commit to anything, you have to have a passion for it. Otherwise, you’ll go through the motions until you’re bored. Then, it gets shelved. It’s a pattern I’ve noticed my whole life, not just with this, but at work, at home or any other activity that sounds good. I love it when they do something because everyone is doing it, possibly the worst reason anyone should try anything. Do it because you want to and you have a better chance of making it.
Maybe some will get scared into better health because of a near death experience. Even then, a lot won’t. It has to come from within. I have a brother-in-law and a son-in-law who both have life-threatening conditions. They eat and drink like there is no tomorrow.
Commitment
Pretty soon, I see the same people at the gym that I saw in November and December. They are the ones who really are going to stick with it. A New Year’s Commitment is as good as a wooden nickel. If you are there in August, I’ll believe you’ll be there in February.
The fat people I see either at Walmart or my family’s get-togethers need to put down the fork and the wine glass, not take a shot. Their health is falling apart because of the life decisions they made 30 years ago.
That means they failed 30 times on New Year’s Resolutions.
It’s why I call BS on this tradition. If you are really committed, you’ll already be doing it.
As for me, I’m not doing anything other than staying committed to being healthy and working out. I’m not getting any younger and even healthy habits won’t stave off the inevitable. I can prolong it, but I’ll be in better shape to enjoy it.
So what are your New Year’s resolutions? Let me know if you make it to the summer.
Oh and PS, please don’t get a pet. That isn’t a resolution. It’s a 10-15 year commitment to an animal’s life, not your convenience or TikTok account. If you aren’t really going to love it above yourself, just don’t do it.
Delusions of Adequacy 
During job interviews, I would always ask candidates what their 5 year plan was: where did they want to be, and how did they intend to get there. Fast forward 25 years and I only have had 2 people take the question seriously enough to alter their lives (and I consider 2 to be a surprisingly high number). One retired in her 50s as a 4th or 5th level manager.
I always considered New Years to be a good time to reflect on the 5 year plan, evaluate where you are, and what you need to accomplish this year to be on track. It’s probably New Year’s Resolution adjacent. A little more substance than “I intend to lose weight this year.”
At least New Year’s Resolutions get people to pretend that they are in control of their lives.
My plan for the coming year is to get the next book out. The last one went out in time for Christmas. I also hope to remember everyone’s birthday this year, which means getting a calendar going. Since my recent retirement, tracking the day of the week and day of the month is more problematic that I expected. A calendar is a good thing.
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good luck on the book. Let me know and you can post it here that it is out.
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I appreciate the offer. The books are all family history based (meaning they have an extremely small audience). I have been exceptionally good at shaking the family tree and finding dirt on the various generations, but unless it was your great, great grandfather being jailed for violating an Order of Bastardry, odds are against people wanting to read it.
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I like the concept. There’s a lot of stuff about people I’m related to I’d like to write about. No one cares about my fanily either, but it would sever some ties I’ve been trying to cut for decades. Good luck. Writing is hard, when you do it well
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I made each book custom, especially the family dirt section. Only my book has everything, and no one gets to read it until my wake.
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I’m lucky no one in my family gives a $hit about my blog. I’ve put a lot of dirt out there. Same with people I’ve worked with. I even put girlfriends in there, both good and bad. I have nicknames for people and it’s not a good thing if I give someone a nickname. I have relatives named meathead, flounder and the fatties.
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For one of the relatives, the nickname is TheRapist. He managed to get the records sealed. TheRapist’s father was The Idiot.
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