Resolutions Are Boring And Cliche And Necessary
It’s another new year… again. And like last year, it’s time to dust off those old resolutions and recommit to becoming a better person… again. It’s time to look back on what we wanted to change before and see what worked and what didn’t, but mostly what didn’t.
You think I would have learned my lesson by now, having done this for decades, but I think I may have discovered a new piece of obvious information any intelligent person is already aware of: the future is unpredictable.
Last year I thought I was going to force my way into the tech world and get a tech job. What did I do instead? I started my own non-tech business doing physical work. For now, I would say I have escaped the rat-race and I’m happy to not have a career. I wasn’t going to get hired anywhere anyway, so I had to make my own job. I had no idea I was going to do this, much like I have no idea what I could be doing this time next year. I could be dead for all I know, and that almost happened last year, so why should I be so brazen about what I’m going to accomplish?
Our resolutions fail because they cannot be firm if we are not a firm decision-maker. Neither is life a firm and linear progression. If you aren’t a firm decision-maker, it’s probably because you’ve learned to be flexible. Resolutions offer no flexibility. Maybe you have learned your predictions are often wrong and if you had stuck with something and tried to force it you would be worse off than you are now.
What resolutions mean to me today is the idea that one hasn’t given up on oneself. You still expect things from yourself. You still have hope. You demand a better life based on what you think would make it better. I’m at the age now were losing weight and trying to be in better shape isn’t about looking good, attracting anyone, or even feeling better, it’s so I can get more work done with my body. I want to be able to finish a day of physical work then have energy to work on my novel or my game.
Currently, I’m already at that point, so now what? Do I stop getting in better shape? I still want to push further because now I want less down-days. Fewer days of feeling sick, fewer days of not feeling well enough (but not sick), fewer days of food-related issues, and fewer days of aches and pains. I still have work to do before I die and I need this body to perform.
Write your resolutions, write your thoughts, conduct your 2-week experiments, they all mean the same thing: you’re still willing to invest in yourself. You haven’t given up yet and you know there’s value in growth. If I look back on my previous year, I realize I grew a lot in that time, most of it was unpredictable, and yet I couldn’t have planned anything better. Sometimes merely adapting to what is is growth enough.
