For a happier new year, rethink your resolutions.

Summary

Consider This from NPR: For a Happier New Year, Rethink Your Resolutions

Release Date: December 26, 2024
Host: Juana Summers
Guest: Marielle Segueira, Host of NPR's Life Kit
Contributor: Faith Hill, Writer for The Atlantic

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As the calendar year draws to a close, Juana Summers and guest Marielle Segueira delve into the age-old tradition of New Year's resolutions, exploring their efficacy, challenges, and alternative approaches to personal growth and self-improvement.

The Allure and Challenges of New Year's Resolutions

The episode opens with Juana Summers setting the stage for the discussion around New Year's resolutions—a time when many feel inspired to embark on self-improvement journeys. Marielle Segueira humorously shares her past resolutions, highlighting their often transient nature:

Marielle Segueira [00:09]: "Resolution number one, obviously, we'll lose £20. Number two, always put last night's pants in the laundry basket... I am going to do one thing I have never done before. That, my friends, is my New Year's resolution."

Juana Summers adds her personal aspiration:

Juana Summers [00:27]: "Mine is to pilot a commercial jet."

However, the hosts acknowledge the common struggle many face in maintaining these resolutions beyond the initial enthusiasm. Marielle reflects on her experiences:

Marielle Segueira [00:56]: "In 2022 when I've tried to make really rigid resolutions in the past, like pretty much done by day three or whatever."

The Complexity of Human Goals

Faith Hill, a writer for The Atlantic, contributes a critical perspective on the structure of New Year's resolutions:

Faith Hill [00:50]: "We don't just like check being a good parent off the list and move on to something else. We struggle our whole lives to live in line with our values and we get better and then we get worse and then better again."

Hill emphasizes that significant life achievements are often ongoing and cannot be neatly compartmentalized into simple resolutions.

Rethinking Resolutions: Intentions Over Goals

Marielle Segueira suggests a shift from rigid resolutions to more flexible intentions. She introduces the concept of breaking down larger goals into manageable tasks:

Marielle Segueira [05:24]: "If you want to eat healthier. Maybe you just start with one thing. Like this year I'm going to try to make a smoothie every morning with a bunch of fruit and vegetable in it."

Referencing Oliver Berkman's approach from his book 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, she underscores the importance of incremental progress:

Marielle Segueira [05:24]: "Little by little, those things can get you to your bigger goal."

Practical Strategies for Sustainable Change

The conversation shifts to practical advice for those contemplating resolutions. Marielle introduces the idea of accountability partners as a means to stay committed:

Marielle Segueira [03:50]: "Enlist the buddy system... You have a friend who you go to the gym with... but you don't actually have to have the same goals."

This method leverages social commitment to sustain motivation, making goals feel more attainable and less solitary.

Financial Well-being

Addressing financial resolutions, Marielle offers tips that listeners might overlook:

Marielle Segueira [06:48]: "If you have money in a savings account to make sure it's in something called a high yield savings account... There are other banks that'll offer you between 4 and 5% interest."

She also advises on curbing impulse spending through strategic planning:

Marielle Segueira [06:48]: "Make a buy list. Anything that you want to buy, you put on this list and you let it sit there for a week or a month."

Health and Safety

Highlighting the importance of health-related resolutions, Marielle emphasizes life-saving skills like CPR:

Marielle Segueira [06:48]: "If you see someone unresponsive, not breathing first, you're going to call 911... Then, start doing compressions to the beat of the song 'Staying Alive'."

This segment underscores that some resolutions can have profound impacts beyond personal well-being, extending to community safety.

Fun and Enjoyable Resolutions

Shifting the focus from serious aspirations, Juana inquires about more lighthearted and enjoyable resolutions. Marielle responds by advocating for resolutions that enhance daily joy:

Marielle Segueira [09:06]: "A resolution could be, I want to learn how to roller skate or start doing it again, or, I'm going to put lotion on my body every night before bed just because it feels good."

She encourages listeners to prioritize pleasure and personal satisfaction, making self-improvement a delightful endeavor rather than a daunting task.

Embracing Intentions: Marielle's Approach

Marielle Segueira shares her personal approach to intentions for the upcoming year, focusing on flexibility and holistic well-being:

Marielle Segueira [09:56]: "The verbs for me right now are move, play, create, connect, and rest. And I aim to do those every day, if possible, every week, for sure."

This approach allows for continual growth without the pressure of rigid milestones, aligning with the idea that meaningful change is often non-linear.

Juana's Personal Intentions

Juana Summers reflects on her own intentions, emphasizing the importance of intentionality in daily life:

Juana Summers [10:31]: "I really want to get back to being more intentional about, like, what I feed my body. I love cooking. I love eating good food even when I don't cook it."

Her focus is not solely on achieving a particular outcome but on fostering a mindful relationship with everyday choices.

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Juana Summers concludes the episode by reiterating the value of thoughtful intentions over conventional resolutions, leaving listeners with a refreshed perspective on entering the new year.

Juana Summers [11:22]: "It's Consider this from NPR. I'm Juana Summers. And Happy New Year."

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Produced by: Katherine Fink
Edited by: Jeanette Woods and Meghan Cain
Executive Producer: Sammy Yenigun
Special Thanks to: Marielle Segueira, Host of NPR's Life Kit

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By rethinking traditional resolutions and embracing a more intentional and flexible approach, this episode of Consider This offers listeners practical tools and insightful perspectives to foster meaningful and sustainable personal growth in the coming year.

Transcript

[Juana Summers]

The end of the calendar year means chillier temperatures, festive treats, time with loved ones, and for many, a renewed enthusiasm for self improvement.

[Marielle Segueira]

Resolution number one, obviously, we'll lose £20. Number two, always put last night's pants in the laundry basket. Equally important, we'll find nice, sensible boyfriend to go out with. I am going to do one thing I have never done before. That, my friends, is my New Year's resolution.

[Juana Summers]

Ooh, that's a good one. Mine is to pilot a commercial jet. As the clock runs out on 2024, it's a good time to reflect back on the year, take stock of the good and the bad, and think about the year to come. And whether you love resolutions or hate them, it can be pretty hard to resist jumping on the whole New Year, new you bandwagon.

[Faith Hill]

In more recent American culture, we have this sort of big self improvement culture. And part of that is, yeah, you know, I think sort of like the ways that advertising and social media and capitalism have been motivated to have us think that we should always be striving for something better and trying something new, that we should be different.

[Juana Summers]

Faith Hill is a writer for the Atlantic. A few years ago, she told NPR about why she was over New Year's resolutions.

[Faith Hill]

The structure of resolutions just doesn't really match a lot of the human experience, at least when it comes to people's most important goals. So, you know, we don't just like check being a good parent off the list and move on to something else. We struggle our whole lives to live in line with our values and we get better and then we get worse and then better again. Or we succeed in some ways and fail in others.

[Juana Summers]

Whether or not New Year's resolutions are realistic is something Marielle Segueira has thought a lot about. She's the host of NPR's Life Kit podcast. And here's what she told us back.

[Marielle Segueira]

In 2022 when I've tried to make really rigid resolutions in the past, like pretty much done by day three or whatever. And also, you know, it's like we should think about what failure means because you don't have to be objectively good at a thing for it to be a success.

[Juana Summers]

Thankfully, if there's a better way to do basically anything, Life Kit has you covered. Consider this. Change is hard. Do New Year's resolutions help or hurt? NPR's resident advice expert weighs in on facing the Year ahead. Foreign from npr, I'm Juana Summers. It's Consider this from npr. My colleague, Life Kit host Marielle Seguera, spends A lot of time talking to people about changes that can make your life better. Small changes like learning to dance in public without being self conscious. And big changes like learning to cope with the loss of a sibling who.

[Marielle Segueira]

Should consider a prenup. How fast are we supposed to eat a meal? What should you consider when you're choosing a lunchbox? What are some ways to get back to sleep?

[Juana Summers]

So here we are at the end of yet another year, and a lot of people may be wondering, should I even bother to make a New Year's resolution? Maybe you don't even know what to resolve, to do or not to do. Well, Marielle is here to help you get 2025 off to a great start. Hi there. Happy almost New Year.

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah, happy almost New Year.

[Juana Summers]

Okay, so say for 2025, you decide to thousand steps every single day, but pretty quickly you realize that's actually a lot more steps than you thought. So you start ignoring your fitness tracker. Sometimes, even when a goal feels reasonable and doable, we just let it slide. Give us some advice. How can we stay on track?

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah, that's the classic story, right? You have this big goal and then you drop it by mid January. Well, we have done a lot of episodes about this every new year. This year we are focusing on something called accountability partners. Basically, the idea is enlist the buddy system, right? We are social creatures as humans, and a lot of the time we are more interested in pleasing other people than we are in pleasing ourselves. So there is a way to harness that for our own goals. And probably the classic example of this is, you know, you have a friend who you go to the gym with or who you go running with, and you know that you're going to show up because you don't want them to be waiting outside in the cold for you. But you wouldn't do it on your own. But you don't actually have to have the same goals. Some people do this where they have an accountability partner who they met online or who was an acquaintance and they just agreed to do this. And they'll get on Zoom once a week and talk about what are your goals for this week? Did you hit your targets for whatever you're interested in last week, et cetera? Or they'll be like, we co work basically once a week. Once a day I'll practice my juggling while you practice the tuba on mute? And it actually gets people much closer to their goals than if they were going it alone.

[Juana Summers]

Atlantic writer Faith Hill, who we heard from a bit earlier, said that some of the most important Achievements in life, they don't really easily break down into like these resolution sized chunks. What's your take? Do you agree with that?

[Marielle Segueira]

I agree that a lot of our goals in life are ongoing, you know, and you don't get to a place where you're like, all right, I'm done. I've started eating healthy. Now I can stop, right? If only it were that easy. But something like eat healthy or be good to my body can be broken down into smaller pieces to make it more actionable, right? So let's say you want to eat healthier. Maybe you just start with one thing. Like this year I'm going to try to make a smoothie every morning with a bunch of fruit and vegetable in it. Just pick something that aligns with that overall intention. We talked to Oliver Berkman on the show a little while back. He wrote a book called 4000 Weeks About Time management. And he talks about breaking down these larger tasks into something doable. So I wanted to retile my kitchen floor and he said that's not really something you can put on your to do list because there are too many steps packed into one goal. So you should break it down into smaller things like call the hardware store for an estimate or pick out the tile. And little by little, those things can get you to your bigger goal.

[Juana Summers]

There are a couple of topics that usually dominate resolutions this time of year. I'm thinking of things like fitness and weight loss, giving up smoking, drinking or other bad habits. But I know that you've talked to a whole lot of experts over the last year. What stands out as some of the best tips that people don't normally think about?

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah, we cover a lot of personal finance. And one is if you have money in a savings account to make sure it's in something called a high yield savings account. Because you might have your money just sitting there essentially losing value because of inflation and earning next to nothing in interest. But there are other banks that'll offer you between 4 and 5% interest and there's no risk associated with that. You just have to make the switch and make sure it's a bank that's FDIC insured. Insured by the federal government. Another one in the money realm is if you find yourself shopping too much and spending more than you want to make a buy list. So basically, anything that you want to buy, you put on this list and you let it sit there for a week or a month and you come back to it. And you'd be surprised how often you're like, I Can't believe I wanted to buy that thing. It stops you from making a lot of impulse purchases. And then we cover health a lot, too. Health and safety. And we did an episode on CPR that was really important, I feel like, because a lot of people are afraid to do CPR if they're not trained, we would definitely encourage everyone to go take a CPR class. But even if you haven't, if you see someone unresponsive, not breathing first, you're going to call 91 1. If there's a bystander, you might point to them and say, hey, you call 91 1. If you're by yourself, you put the phone on speakerphone call while you start doing compressions. And for compressions, you're just putting one hand over the other, arms straight, elbows locked, push in the center of the person's chest to the beat of the song Staying Alive. So it's like staying alive. Push, push, push, push. Staying alive, staying alive. You keep doing that until the person wakes up or until help shows up.

[Juana Summers]

I mean, it seems like when we have these conversations about resolutions, there are always these very serious, very aspirational, very lofty goals. So I want to ask you, Muriel, what are some resolutions that are maybe easier to accomplish and also just plain fun?

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah. I think New Year's resolutions don't have to be punishing. Right. It's up to you. So if you think about what's fun to you, maybe you want more play in your life, maybe you want more pleasure in your life. Think about what brings that for you. A resolution could be, I want to learn how to roller skate or start doing it again, or, I'm going to put lotion on my body every night before bed just because it feels good. And that's a pretty simple promise to make to yourself. And that falls into that category of, like, pleasure, you know, it doesn't have to be. I'm denying myself all these things.

[Juana Summers]

I love that. Marielle, you've said in the past that you prefer to think about intentions rather than resolution. So what are some of your intentions as we look ahead to 2025?

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah, I have these kind of rolling intentions. I had them written on a. Post it above my desk for a while. The verbs for me right now are move, play, create, connect, and rest. And I aim to do those every day, if possible, every week, for sure. And they can mean different things, but I try not to set super rigid goals for myself, at least at this moment in my life. What. What about you? Do you have an intention? This year.

[Juana Summers]

You know, I don't know if I have an intention, but one thing we've been talking about a lot at home is I don't know, obviously, I host a new show, so I work a lot, and that means sometimes some of those household things can fly by the wayside. I used to be a great meal planner, and then I kind of fell off of meal planning. So that means there's a lot of, like, impulse takeout where it's like, I don't even necessarily want to eat that thing. I just want to not cook or I didn't plan well enough and there's nothing in my fridge. So I really want to get back to being more intentional about, like, what I feed my body. I love cooking. I love eating good food even when I don't cook it. So just trying to be a little bit more intentional with that. Not really like a healthy diet goal, but just a I don't know, thinking more about what I'm consuming.

[Marielle Segueira]

Well, we have multiple episodes of Life Kit that can help you with that.

[Juana Summers]

That is Marielle Seguera, host of NPR's Life Kit. Marielle, thanks for coming back and Happy New Year.

[Marielle Segueira]

Yeah, thanks for having me.

[Juana Summers]

This episode was produced by Katherine Fink. It was edited by Jeanette woods and Meghan Cain. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigun. And a special thanks to Marielle Segueira, host of NPR's Life Kit. Foreign It's Consider this from NPR. I'm Juana Summers. And Happy New Year.