{"id":3283,"date":"2024-12-29T14:00:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-29T19:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=3283"},"modified":"2024-12-29T09:29:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-29T14:29:41","slug":"the-case-for-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=3283","title":{"rendered":"The Case for Resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Case for Resolutions<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Claremont\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tWrite them with us.<\/b>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tDoes it feel like there\u2019s something gauche \u2014 maybe a little anachronistic \u2014 about New Year\u2019s resolutions? They run counter to the idea that we should accept who we are. That we should give ourselves grace. \u201cDo you have any New Year\u2019s resolutions?\u201d It\u2019s a question that asks someone to believe they are inadequate.

\n\nAnd I get that. My colleague Melissa Kirsch argues that resolutions shouldn\u2019t be so grand that we set ourselves up to fail. Maybe it\u2019s better to admit we won\u2019t improve in the new year \u2014 a dose of realism with our Champagne.

\n\nNo thanks. I love resolutions, and I love hearing what work other people choose to do on themselves. I think there\u2019s a way to be better without believing you are deficient. A New Year\u2019s resolution is an opportunity to give myself a sense of accomplishment. A gift to future me.

\n\nI\u2019ve begun writing an annual list of things I want to do in the new year. This morning, I want to write my resolutions with you \u2014 and hopefully convince you to craft your own ideas for self-improvement.

\n\nThat subject \u2014 \u201cself-improvement\u201d \u2014 is a bookstore section with a million entries. And real scholarship has looked at how people change, or try to. There are techniques that work for anyone hoping to make a change. But for me, I follow three rules.

\n\nIt has to be measurable. \u201cEat at home more\u201d might be a resolution, but it\u2019s vague enough that you\u2019ll never be accountable. \u201cEat at home five times a week\u201d is a resolution.

\n\nIt has to be realistic. There\u2019s no way I can exercise for an hour every day for a month. Life gets in the way, and everyone needs rest. But exercise 10 times in a month? That\u2019s definitely something I can do.

\n\nYou have to want to do it. The truth is, I hate cardio and strength training. It wouldn\u2019t be any good for me to write those down as resolutions, because they\u2019re just chores. But I love yoga. It\u2019s fun and relaxing. I feel accomplished and confident when I become more flexible.

\n\nHere\u2019s what I\u2019m writing on my paper:

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  • Do yoga for an hour 10 times in one month. <\/li>
  • \n\n Don\u2019t bite your nails for two consecutive months.\n\n See the dentist twice this year. <\/li>
  • \n\n Paint a painting. <\/li>
  • \n\n Ride a roller coaster. <\/li>
  • \n\n Make a new friend. (This one\u2019s going to be a hard one.) <\/li><\/ul>
    \n\nThen I fold the list up and put it away.

    \n\nThat\u2019s right. It\u2019s gone from my life. I don\u2019t look at it until the end of the year. This isn\u2019t homework. There\u2019s no final exam. A new start is more like extra credit.

    \n\nIf I made my list right, at the end of the year, I\u2019ll find that I accomplished a lot of what I set out to do. Not everything, of course \u2014 I\u2019ve tried to quit biting my nails before, but I haven\u2019t yet crossed it off.

    \n\nYet my resolutions usually work out. Why? Taking the time to think about what you want to do and who you want to be is the hardest part. Writing it down sets you up to be mindful of yourself and your goals. The satisfaction of crossing your resolutions off at the end of the year (or the self-reflection about why you weren\u2019t able to) will motivate you to keep improving.

    \n\nBest of all, there\u2019s no pressure. We have an entire year to work on them. In fact, I can cross off something from my previous list right now: Publish an article in The New York Times.


    \n\nContributor: Lyna Bentahar \u2013 The New York Times<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Case for Resolutions Write them with us. Does it feel like there\u2019s something gauche \u2014 maybe a little anachronistic \u2014 about New Year\u2019s resolutions? They run counter to the idea that we should accept who we are. That we should give ourselves grace. \u201cDo you have any New Year\u2019s resolutions?\u201d It\u2019s a question that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3283"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3287,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3283\/revisions\/3287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}