[cramjabsyn]

I’m growing more and more jaded by the notion that a new calendar year should involve some sort of personal reinvention.

If you wanted to do that, you’d be doing it already. So quit making promises and just do the thing, or don’t.

Just enjoy where you are in life and focus on whats most important now.

[tunesmith]

I think this is needlessly discouraging.

The end of a year really does correspond to a lot of things that end. The tax year, project deadlines, the big holiday season is over, reconnecting with family via reunions, etc. There very much can be a feeling of wiping the slate clean and starting fresh, and that isn't just a superstition; it aligns with things that actually happen in our lives.

So there's nothing wrong with using that extra bit of space of psychic room to do some reflection and come up with some new goals.

[estevaoam]

I agree with you. I don’t understand why some people get annoyed about this. Any desired life change starts with goal setting.

Easy to say “just do what you’re supposed to do” as if that phrase by itself had magic powers. It is known that motivation and habit is a fairly complex process, so I don’t get why we still get such reductionist comments around here.

We need more empathy and less criticism toward others, specially when they’re trying to improve themselves.

[langsoul-com]

It just needs a bit of rewording to sound more encouraging.

If you failed the last new years resolution, then reduce the scope of the goal and then start today. Lumping goals into the new year tends to make them too difficult to achieve. Start small and snowball. Don't wait.

[whywhywouldyou]

It's easy to see this behavior when it comes to the flood of gym memberships that coincide with the new year. Everyone simultaneously decides, "THIS is the year I finally get in shape!".

Right. Except by March all of these people are back to sitting on the couch. I'm sure if it were as measurable as gym memberships, we'd see the same thing happen with all resolutions.

[k__]

In my experience, people underestimate what these endevors actually include.

Going to the gym is so much more than getting a membership. It's also a training plan that fits you, maybe a change of social circle that helps you to be consistent, a change of diet, etc.

I often started new things just to notice weeks to months in that they don't require the work I expected.

[late2part]

One might look to the words of Morrissey for a similar approach:

https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/morrissey/jimjimfalls.html

" If you're gonna jump then jump Don't think about it If you're gonna run home and cry Then don't waste my time If you're gonna kill yourself Then to save face Just kill yourself"

[quickthrower2]

I agree. Every night is potentially a new years eve.

[dspillett]

But every night is not part of the second long weekend in a row¹ which is rare², and we spend more of this couple of weeks mixing with (or at least thinking of) people we don't see very often compared to other parts of the year, this change sometimes resulting in different reflections in our own heads.

The prominence of resolutions around the day count's rollover point isn't directly due to that rollover, but is due to the collective stop-start of our usual routines.

--

[1] I know it isn't for everyone, service sector workers in particular, but I suspect it is for the majority here.

[2] Again, for most but not all. I know a few people on shift patterns that involve three or four days off in a row every 7/8/14 rather than following the more common 5-on-2-off rotation.

[k__]

I do both.

Making changes during the year and new year's resolutions.

Sometimes one works, sometimes the other.