On Resolutions and Delusions
This Weekly What
I was listening to this week’s Offline podcast, an episode with Max Fisher in conversation with Katy Milkman, author of the book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, they were talking about the science behind habit formation, the psychology of temptation bundling, and all the strategies for sticking to New Year’s resolutions. It’s a really interesting conversation full of useful, evidence-based practices.
They mentioned at the start of the episode about 1/3 of people set New Year’s resolutions, 1/3 of people who set resolutions think they will actually achieve them, and only about 9% actually do. This feels like a very sad way to kick-off a fresh year, failing at something and rather quickly (1/4 of people quit within the first week of the new year), at least for 91% of resolution-makers.
I am not a resolution maker. At the beginning of the year I do like to review my reading from the previous year and set a few reading goals for the year to come, it’s a practical time to do this. Outside of that I am not at all interested in improving upon myself in the dead of winter and people who are have always seemed a bit delusional to me (the science confirms what I’ve always known to be true.)
All this talk about resolutions made me wonder where the practice originated, so I investigated. According to History.com 4,000 years ago ancient Babylonians welcomed the new year by making promises to the pagan gods to pay their debts and return any borrowed items (much more practical and achievable than our modern resolutions, which are most commonly about health, fitness, and finances - ick.) If they kept their word the pagan gods would bestow favor upon them in the coming year, if not they’d fall out of favor.
Ok, BUT, here’s the kicker: their new year didn’t start in January, it started mid-March! A much more reasonable time for reflection and goal setting, if you ask me.
TL;DR: winter is for hibernation and survival; spring is a time for rebirth and improvement. I know this. The ancient peoples know this. The 91% of people who fail at their resolutions should know this. Let’s set goals in March when birds sing and flowers bloom - pass it on!
What I’m…
Reading:
Family Family by Laurie Frankel (publishing this Tuesday 1/23!) a surprising and challenging (in the best way) story of family and adoption. This was a redeeming read for me after loving This is How it Always Is and being disappointed by One, Two, Three.
Halcyon by Elliot Ackerman a speculative alternate history with Gore in the White House in 2000; loved the ideas if not the narrative itself so much.
Hot Springs Drive by Lindsay Hunter I’m currently bingeing this dark, domestic, literary thriller from Roxanne Gay’s imprint.
Listening:
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, read for the Aspen Words Literary Awards Longlist Book Club.
Book Talk Etc: “Atmospheric Winter Reads III + Reading Tracking,” I’m very into atmospheric winter reads and Tina and Renee have a great roundup of suggestions here! Plus, I found the discussion on various apps and methods of reading tracking interesting.
I just started Penance by Eliza Clark and we’re off to a strong start!
Watching:
Emmy Awards; again Succession, The Bear, and Beef dominated, I approve.
Still watching and loving The Great; we’re approaching the end of season 2.
Entering this year’s award season made me finally give up on waiting for last year’s award winners to make their way to one of the too many streaming platforms I pay for (whichever one they’re on is apparently the one I don’t have.) Thanks to library borrows we watched The Whale and The Fablemans and I quite liked both. I especially found the conversation between The Whale and Moby Dick to be interesting, though I’m rusty on my Moby Dick and unlikely to revisit it any time soon.
Eating & Drinking:
It’s been *freezing* in Ohio this week (I know it has been the same in much of the U.S.) and this Spicy Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili really hit the spot
Instant Pot Hamburger Stroganoff is a quick and easy family favorite.
Chinese takeout IHO of the long weekend
Links + Loves
Keeping it extra cozy with flannel sheets on the bed this week. I like to save fun, seasonal print sheets for when we need an extra bit of warmth.
S/O warmth, I use this beverage warmer daily and I love it so much! I purchased this two years ago and it has really upped my cold weather beverage game. I like my hot beverages to stay hot, but I also like to use my own mugs (non-insulated). This little gadget is the solution I needed!
While it has been unreasonably cold outside we have actually seen the sun the last few days. I’ve really been enjoying this solar powered rainbow prism my grandma gifted me for Christmas! She always has one in her window and it turns the sunlight into rainbows. Such a treat for winter especially!
Connections! I started playing this NYT game last week and I am hooked! I’m a long time Wordle player, which I still enjoy, but I find Connections more challenging. It stretches my brain in a totally different way.
Why is March 2024 the Best Month in Years for Books? I found this LitHub article interesting. While March does feel relatively strong this year, June seems to be my most anticipated month so far!
Against Counting the Books You Read I agree with much of this Atlantic piece, though I disagree that book tracking is detrimental to a satisfying reading life, in fact, I have thoughts.
ICYMI
This week’s blog posts:
Speaking of resolutions, here are some posts relevant to reading goals: