New Year’s Irresolutions

Like many people, at the end of every year I start thinking about making New Year’s resolutions. Losing weight and exercising more are among the top two resolutions made by people in the US, and I have made them too, repeatedly. Sometimes I make specific plans for achieving them, like a diet or an exercise regime to follow. I start with strong intention and resolve, yet by mid-February or earlier, the plans have usually faded. Since retirement, with more time available to me, I have added several new resolutions each year, including plans to learn a new language and visit all the museums in NYC. I have made modest progress in both of these new ones, but progress slows during the year.

Statistics about the success of new year’s resolutions have varied, but generally about half of the people who make them are still following them after six months, and about 10% reported that they kept them until the end of the year. Given this overall lack of success, this year I decided to try something different. 

Most of my resolutions in the past have been outcome-oriented and generally involve self-improvement. I am still a proponent of self-improvement, but decided that it doesn’t need to be my primary goal in the future. After all, at this point in life, maybe the level I have reached, at least in some areas, no longer requires further improvement and can just be enjoyed. So I am considering making irresolutions. Here are some helpful definitions:

Irresolution – lack of decision or vacillating

Resolution – a firm decision or being unwavering.

This year I won’t be so definitive about my resolutions, and will aim for maintenance rather than improvement in some areas. In terms of exercise, I go to the gym, take long walks, and am generally happy with this mix. I’m not sure how much more time I want to spend doing exercise, so I won’t make a decision about that. And now that my weight has leveled off in the past few years, and most of my clothes fit my current state, maybe I don’t need to find another diet. I have considered intermittent fasting, but will continue vacillating about this one. I know you can restrict either the number of hours you eat each day or have restrictions on the days of the week that you eat, but since my social calendar varies each week, usually involves eating, and is often unpredictable, I’m not sure I can do that. I don’t want to commit to a plan likely to fail. So this is another item on my irresolution list for 2023.

Other self-improvement New Year’s resolutions I have identified in the past require extensive time and energy, like learning a new language, or cleaning out all my closets. As I get older, and my time and energy are becoming more limited, I do not want to spend too much of my diminishing resources on these activities.  So I will make a set of irresolutions, that enhance my experienced quality of life, may not involve self-improvement and I can do whenever I choose. Taking a short nap during the day is one of these. I recently read that a short nap can increase the cognitive and energy levels of seniors, so I will no longer see it as wasting time. I also will no longer feel guilty about time spent playing word games – I admit, I am addicted to Scrabble and Words with Friends, and more recently enjoy Wordle and Spelling Bee. I play these games at a high level, and feel no need for improvement, so I will just play them for pleasure.

Overall, I have concluded that for this upcoming year, making irresolutions may be most suitable for me.  But I’m not yet ready to make a resolution about that.