To Resolve or Not to Resolve: That is the New Year Question

(and why does Hamlet still sneak into my essays?)

As 2024 rides off into the sunset, and 2025 peeks over the horizon, the old standby question comes up. “What are your New Year’s Resolutions?” Some of us are very serious about this, others play with the idea, while another mindset is to resolve NOT to make any resolutions (which, in one respect IS a resolution.)

There are unhappy failure rates published this time of year, ranging from 80% to 99%, depending on surveys, guesswork, and personal opinions. The stats don’t matter in the long run. Either you fulfilled you goal completely, worked on it for a while and dropped it, wrote down something then never looked at it again, or patted yourself on the back for not jumping on the bandwagon.

However, whether it is a new year, or just any day in any month, taking some time to assess your dreams, desires, accomplishments and strike-outs is a healthy practice. In that respect, using a new year can give you a nice 12-month period of time to think about. This helps me a lot, because I am the person who can start ruminating failures starting from having to stand in the corner in first grade. (why I am terrible about ruminating about past successes is the subject of a different article.)

Here are some questions I consider;

1. What are my "did work" and "didn't works" for the past 12 months?  Making this list is probably the longest part of my process.

2. For the “did work” things — what did I do that made them successful and how to use what I learned going forward?

3. For the “didn’t work” things — What were the mis-steps and can they be corrected? Do I want to return to the failure or mistake and try to revitalize it, or should I learn a lesson from it and just move on?

4. What can I spend more time on?

5. What can I eliminate?

6. What skill, habit or practice can I add, and when can I start?

7. What new ideas are percolating in my mind, and how can I start working on them?

8. Did I live up to my own version of myself, including my personal relationships, and did I laugh enough?

Here are other important things I consider:

• Things I can control and things I cannot control.

• Situations I can change, and those I cannot change.

• What gave me joy, sense of purpose and resilience, and what did not.

Of course, the answers and the actions to take are not always simple. My decisions will involve and affect both my personal and my professional life, and the lives of my loved ones. Those steps forward can range from tweaking something, to life-changing plans.

In the case of items and situations I cannot control, learning how to accept those issues – not letting them "live in my head" – will help my personal well-being. I know this, and yet, still struggle with this particular habit. I also need to regularly remind myself that things or actions that give me joy and a sense of purpose may not be "profitable," but  a sensible investment in my resilience, happiness, and self-satisfaction.

As I move forward into the new year, I will be resolving to keep these words about hope in mind. What resolutions, ideas, or wise words will you resolve to keep in mind?

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering 'it will be happier.'” — Alfred Lord Tennyson