There is a striking durability about New Year resolutions.
I’m not thinking, of course, of any ability to keep festive determinations, just the way people persist in making them. As one year gives way to another, huge numbers are moved to commit themselves to some kind of self-improvement project. And unlike so many of our efforts after change, these aren’t directed outwards. No blaming of circumstances or all those difficult people around us, the necessity for change focuses specifically on us. At some level, it seems, we know that things aren’t right.
Grappling with character
Of course, not everyone is keen on the whole New Year resolution business, but given their enduring popularity what can we say about them? First, notice that the changes arising from these New Year resolutions are typically behavioural. We resolve to moderate our alcohol intake, write more letters, get to bed before 11, take more exercise (more people join gyms in January than in any other month). None of which is bad – we all have behaviours worth changing – but doesn’t it reveal a certain reluctance to grapple with character?
