A Compendium Of New Years Resolutions

Summary

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Podcast Summary: The Dream – "A Compendium Of New Years Resolutions"

Podcast: The Dream
Host: Jane Marie (Little Everywhere)
Guest: Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)
Date: January 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode marks the return of The Dream, now reimagined as a weekly interview podcast—still centered on the American Dream and its many obstacles, but now with more freedom in format. The episode explores New Year's resolutions: why we make them, why they so often fail, and what might work better. Host Jane Marie interweaves history, personal anecdotes, and a conversation with life coach Jessie Munro to reframe our approach to fresh starts.

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Main Themes & Purpose

• Resolutions as Ritual and Marketing Strategy: The show delves into the origin and evolution of New Year's resolutions, examining their roots in history and current role as a driver of consumer behavior.
• Self-Compassion over Self-Improvement: Through conversation with wellness coach Jessie Munro, the episode shifts focus from results-oriented resolutions (like weight loss & productivity) to self-awareness and self-compassion.
• Honest Reflections on Growth: Both host and guest share candid experiences—including failures, setbacks, and how unexpected hardships can shape a healthier approach to change.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. History & Psychology of Resolutions

[02:20 – 07:50]

• Jane Marie opens with a Mark Twain anecdote ridiculing the cyclical, often vain nature of resolutions.
  • Quote: “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” – Mark Twain (read by Jane Marie) [03:10]
• Resolutions date back 4,000 years (Babylonian ceremonies, later adapted by Romans).
• The pattern: High engagement among the young (18-29) with optimism bias; declines after 50.
  • Rooted in periods of life with most “churn” and opportunity.
• Most common modern resolutions: weight loss, personal finance, productivity, and organization.

2. Modern Resolution Trends and Critique

[07:50 – 10:58]

• Media montage lampoons America’s obsession with thinness and financially-motivated resolutions.
• Jane quips about performative self-care and the ongoing grip of consumerism (“…buying a $200 gym membership isn’t going to fix your problems.”).
• Suggests the priorities should be reversed:
  • Quote: “Reversing priorities, putting kindness and generosity above being skinny and rich, will get you there faster. Just as a side effect, you catch a lot more good haircuts and free vacations with honey.” – Jane Marie [09:51]

3. Conversation with Wellness Coach Jessie Munro

[13:21 – 24:47]

• Jessie shares how most new clients come from a place of self-judgment or feeling “broken,” especially during resolution season.
  • Quote: “There’s this situation around resolutions that it’s like judgment and poison and I’m broken and I didn’t do this right, rather than, I’m disconnected from this part of my body or this part of my life.” – Jessie Munro [15:05]
• She rejects working with clients seeking quick-fix body transformations: “If someone calls me and says I need to get ready by the end of the year because I need a six pack, I said, oh, good luck. I’m not taking those clients right now—I’m booked.” [16:08]
• Jessie’s advice: Focus on root causes and motivations, not willpower or shame.
• Recommends Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza as a starting point for mindful change [17:52-18:37].
• Personal story: Jessie experienced a grand mal seizure and grapples with challenges as an undocumented immigrant.
• Her “biggest takeaway” is newfound self-awareness and pride despite falling short of external markers of success.
  • Quote: “I don’t feel shame because I’m undocumented. I don’t feel shame because I don’t have the big house. I am fucking proud that I am sacrificing my life in a country where…my child [can] grow in an environment where there’s more opportunity.” – Jessie Munro [20:38]

Practical Tips from Jessie

[17:36 – 22:39]

• Sit with yourself and breathe; become aware of small things (like turning off the water when brushing teeth).
• Don't judge yourself for not achieving all goals; focus on personal growth and self-connection.
• The most important relationship in 2026 is the one with yourself: “No, just move forward with compassion for yourself. It’s much easier and you enjoy the process. Instead of pressuring yourself, you’re not useful if you’re under stress.” – Jessie Munro [20:52]

Memorable Moment

• Jessie sets a weekly “date with herself” to rediscover what brings her joy, inviting listeners to “reconnect with yourself, learn more about yourself, grow in love with yourself, in a relationship with you.” [23:55]

4. The Science & Marketing of Fresh Starts

[26:06 – 27:40]

• Discusses research (the 2014 “Fresh Start Study”) claiming life events and “special days” can motivate goal-setting, but also how marketers exploit these cycles.
• Observes that setting arbitrary start dates is sometimes even more effective than classic calendar milestones.

5. Virginia Woolf’s Radical Resolutions

[28:42 – 29:52]

• Jane closes with Woolf’s resolve “first, to have none, not to be tied…not goading it to parties, to sit rather privately reading.” Suggests that sometimes, no external targets are needed at all.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |---|---|---| | [03:10] | Mark Twain (via Jane Marie) | “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” | | [09:51] | Jane Marie | “Reversing priorities, putting kindness and generosity above being skinny and rich, will get you there faster. Just as a side effect, you catch a lot more good haircuts and free vacations with honey.” | | [15:05] | Jessie Munro | “There’s this situation around resolutions that it’s like judgment and poison and I’m broken and I didn’t do this right, rather than, I’m disconnected from this part of my body or this part of my life.” | | [16:08] | Jessie Munro | “If someone calls me and says I need to get ready by the end of the year because I need a six pack, I said, oh, good luck. I’m not taking those clients right now—I’m booked.” | | [20:38] | Jessie Munro | “I don’t feel shame because I’m undocumented...I am fucking proud that I am sacrificing my life in a country where...my child [can] grow in an environment where there’s more opportunity.” | | [20:52] | Jessie Munro | “No, just move forward with compassion for yourself. It’s much easier and you enjoy the process. Instead of pressuring yourself, you’re not useful if you’re under stress.” | | [29:00] | Virginia Woolf (read by Jane Marie) | “First, to have none, not to be tied...Second, to be free and kindly with myself, not goading it to parties, to sit rather privately reading in the studio...As for clothes, I think to buy good ones.” |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:20] – Mark Twain, the history of resolutions
• [07:50] – Stat breakdown on who makes resolutions
• [13:21] – Jessie Munro conversation starts
• [15:05] – Jessie discusses clients’ attitudes toward resolutions
• [17:36] – Jessie’s practical advice and book recommendation
• [19:18] – Jessie’s personal story and reflections on self-worth
• [20:52] – Jessie's advice on self-compassion and growth
• [23:55] – Weekly date with self and redefining resolutions
• [26:06] – The “Fresh Start Study” and marketing perspective
• [28:42] – Virginia Woolf’s anti-resolution wisdom

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Takeaways

• New Year’s resolutions are an ancient tradition, but today, they’re as much about industry and marketing as personal improvement.
• Most resolutions are about self-discipline, often rooted in self-judgment; Jane and Jessie suggest a more compassionate, self-connected approach.
• Sustainable change is less about arbitrary calendar dates and more about self-awareness, patience, and acceptance of gradual growth.
• Sometimes, the most radical move is to abandon resolutions altogether and focus on loving yourself as you are.

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Tone: Candid, irreverently humorous, compassionate, and thoughtful—true to the “The Dream” style.

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Transcript

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[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

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Happy New Year. Sadly, this is the first opportunity I've had to kick off an episode with a story about Mark Twain back in the 1860s, Mark was still named Samuel Clemens and his brother Orion, solid name, no need to change it, if you ask me. Was appointed some political position by Abe Lincoln out in Nevada and took Sam with him to act as his secretary when he was bored. Sam would write letters to the local paper about whatever and he signed them. Josh. Eventually the folks at the paper kind of got to like him and they offered him a job and he took it. And he started going by the name Mark Twain as Mark Twain. On January 1, 1863, he wrote this. Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever. We shall also reflect pleasantly upon how we did the same old thing last year about this time. What a marvelous grump, that Sam, Josh, Mark guy. His letter got upstaged that day by a national New Year's resolution, the Emancipation Proclamation. I've always thought of the tradition of resolutions as kind of a hallmark holiday, a made up thing that spurs the sale of gym memberships and mutual fund investments. But it turns out they're ancient. The first evidence we have of this being an annual practice comes from about 4,000 years ago. I emphasize evidence because humans have been doing this stuff forever. They just didn't have Facebook to memorialize everything or like clay tablets or whatever. Around 2000 BC we know that Babylonians celebrated a new year during the spring equinox, which was the time for planting crops, mostly barley. And as part of that celebration, they made little symbolic gestures, like promising to pay off their debts or be nicer. The funnest part, in my opinion, of this holiday was when they made the king take off all of his regalia, crown and scepter. I don't know what he wore, and confess his transgressions. And then he would get slapped publicly in the face by a priest. Later, when Julius Caesar created the calendar we use, he decided the year would begin in January, named after the God Janus, who had two faces, one facing forward and one backward. So you get the symbolism, reflection and projection. In practical terms, January 1st was just the day that all the new government officials took office. During the medieval era, a silk merchant from Florence called Gregorio Dati kept a diary that we found. And it's really pretty, actually, nice drawings and stuff. And in 14 oh, 4. He wrote a list of resolutions for himself for the New Year, most of them rooted in his shame around not keeping the Sabbath holy. And this one about sexual. I resolve from this very day and in perpetuity to keep Friday as a day of total chastity. With Friday, I include the following night when I must abstain from the enjoyment of all carnal pleasures. So no getting fresh on Friday or Saturday night. You seem cool, Greg. The trend toward restraint and moral correction continued and grew in secular circles, eventually landing us here with a tradition of saying, what did I mean to do last year that I promised, promise, promise, promise to actually do this year? I'm Andy Rooney. I mean, I'm Jane Marie, and this is the dream. What follows is a compendium of the New Year's resolution. According to Pew Research, half of adults in the US aged 18 to 29 make New Year's resolutions. As we age, the idea kind of loses steam with only 20% of people over 50 making them. We see the same thing in Europe. The almost 50 year old me wants to say this is because of wisdom, but it's not. Early in life we just have a lot more churn, a lot more opportunities for like, goal setting, think about romantic relationships and deciding where we want to live and for the kidless, whether they want kids or not, and just all that free time to put toward doing stuff or thinking about doing stuff. It's a period of rapid change. So resolutions make a lot of sense as things to like, put on a vision board or whatever. Plus there's a thing called optimism bias that's more prevalent in youth, you know, before the world has done its worst. And it's what helps us decide to join pyramid schemes, for example, or buy a fixer upper or date a loser with potential. That bias fades over time once you have to live through a bunch of shit you didn't see coming. But a lot of us continue to make resolutions until we're dead. Sadly, around 80% of the projects we commit to on January 1st have to do with weight loss. Sometimes they're couched as like, I want to get healthy, but it's just weight loss.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Hi, Happy New Year's. You got Richard Simmons. Now listen, it's a brand new year. We have a brand new motto. Are you ready for it? Feel like heaven in 2011. That's right. Eat like an angel. Prepare healthy foods for you and your family. Take your lunch to work and make some time for a healthy breakfast. Number two, think celestial thoughts, positive thoughts that will get you through so that you know your worth and your self esteem. But I have to tell you, you are not going to lose weight and keep it off without exercise. You got to exercise every second.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Most popular money stuff.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

It's New Year's Eve and as many Americans say goodbye to 2025, they're looking at 2026 as a fresh start to managing their finances.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

FOX Business is Kelly Saberry live in.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Chicago with how folks are feeling ahead of the new year.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Kelly? Good morning, Cheryl.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Well, a new FOX News poll found.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

That 44% of their respondents say they feel like they're falling behind on their personal finances. So we set to Chicago's Magnificent Mile.

[BILT Advertiser]

To see how Americans are taking action.

[Guest or Additional Narrator]

Listen to, I would just say saving more. I feel like that's a good thing. It's just like getting a set amount to save each week, not spending money on like the frivolous things like not.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Buying coffee every day.

[Guest or Additional Narrator]

Like, I don't know, I feel like I bought a lot of coffee throughout 2025, just figuring out ways to like make coffee at home or like make coffee at my office. Just like eating lunch at work too, instead of like buying lunch.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

We are thinking about investing more money into yeah, for the new year. By the way, that person who said they were planning to stop buying coffee every day was wearing a designer scarf, a camel hair coat, a giant gold ring and some gorgeous blinged out nails that probably cost about two weeks worth of matcha lattes. Next on the list are things like productivity and organization, sticking to our to do lists, prioritizing sleep, creating work life balance, whatever that means. The people I know who seem to have it also have really hard working wives with zero work life balance who make it all possible. I said what I said. Rounding out the list of popular resolutions, though these are all the way at the bottom are things like improving our relationships, being a better person. Boring. Volunteering more, making a contribution to your community, that sort of thing. It makes sense that we'd want to take care of ourselves before going out into the world and offering up our goodness to others. But I'd argue, as would a lot of scientists, that reversing priorities, putting kindness and generosity, say, above being skinny and rich will get you there faster. Just as a side effect, you catch a lot more good haircuts and free vacations with honey. After the break, we'll hear from my former life coach, current friend who I hired for season three of our show and look at how we actually do with our resolutions, why they often fail and what we can resolve to do instead.

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[BILT Advertiser]

It's 2026 and if you're still paying rent without Bilt, it's time for a change. BILT is a loyalty program for renters that rewards you for your biggest monthly expense. Rent. I don't like paying rent, and I bet you don't either, but Bilt makes it feel a little better. BILT is the loyalty program for renters that rewards you monthly with points and exclusive benefits in your neighborhood. Let me explain. With bilt, every rent payment earns you points that can be used towards flights, hotels, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases and so much more. And here's something I'm really excited about. Starting in February, BILT members can earn points on mortgage payments for the first time. Soon you'll be able to get rewarded wherever you live and unlock exclusive benefits with more than 45,000 restaurants, fitness studios, pharmacies and other neighborhood partners. Personally, I'd use my built points for travel. Turning rent into flights feels like a win. It's simple. Paying rent is better with bilt, and soon owning a home will be better with BILT too. Earn rewards and get something back wherever you live. Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com acast that's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T.com acast make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Welcome back to the dream. Last season I hired a life coach to kick my ass into gear. It wasn't January, but the goals I had were basically those one would make as part of this ritual. Get off the couch, eat healthier, be happier. Can't tell you how many times I Google how to be happy right now.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Well, I'm Jesse Munro. I am your old health wellness coach. And you know I love you.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I love you too.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

But I am also that to a lot of people. You know, I started like, you know, personal training and I realized that that was just the, you know, scratching the surface of part of it. Part of it. Studying like metaphysics, how that integrates with wellness and nutrition and physical movement is, yeah, a little witchy, but I kind of like that.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I like that you're kind of witchy.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

I love that. When I want to change stuff, I like it.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I think people are surprised when I have friends that are like, on that end of the spectrum as far as woo woo stuff goes.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

And I love it because, you know, I've gotten a lot of results and I'm not an expert. I am just an expert in how I feel and my process because I've had to deconstruct myself and reconstruct myself several times in order to be exactly where I am. So all I do is I share my journey and then I talk a lot with my clients and it's like, let's just talk.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

So do you get a lot of work in January, like around the new year?

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

I noticed that in the last quarter of the year, moving into the first.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Quarter of the year, what does it look like?

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

There's this situation around resolutions that it's. It's like judgment and poison and I'm broken and I didn't do this right.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Yeah.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Rather than I'm disconnected from this part of my body or this part of my life. So in my line of work, it's not like finances or, you know, for my line of work is wellness, but it's. People don't actually look for me unless they need to get ready for a wedding, a six pack for like a vacation, or they just realize that they have a terminal illness or, you know, it's just a disease. People don't look for me until they feel broken. The beginning of the year is where I get most of those phone calls. And if someone calls me and says I need to get ready by the end of the year because I need a six pack, I said, oh, good luck. I'm not taking those clients right now. I'm booked. Yeah, but if I have someone that says, I need a lot of help, I'm lost. I don't know how to approach this. Those are my clients, and I usually see clients for more than two to three years at a time. Like, my turnover is not a lot, because we start with this, but then we realize that there's so much more, which, like I said, if you feel. If you come towards the end of the year and you realize, shit, I need to change my diet, I need to do. I don't look as hot as I used to, my skin, blah, blah, blah. It's almost like a judgment thing. And I like to let them speak because I feel that you have disconnected a little bit from your. Who you are. Maybe you've had to work more. Maybe you've had to be a single mom now or a single dad or whatever the case is. You don't feel right. And it's usually like in any relationship when there is a disconnection because you have not nurtured that relationship or that plant or your fucking car. You haven't taken it for an oil change, right? It breaks down. So the approach that I like to take is you have to ask yourself why this is happening to me and the changes that I want to make. Do they root from love for myself or for fear of self worth and acceptance from others?

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I asked Jessie, on behalf of all of us, what practical tips she has for actually making the changes we all claim to want in the coming year. What can we do outside of hiring her to coach us? And she told me about one thing that's pretty much free, so long as you have a library card.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

There's one book. I mean, he's pretty famous meditator right now. I mean, he's like. And I read that one because it was an introduction to meditation for me. Breaking the Habit of being yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza. Like, that book is pretty easy to understand and follow process. So that's like the beginning of it. That was the beginning of it for me. And of course, I had to read Becoming Supernatural because that's my company name, right? Supernatural. I'm like, what the fuck? I said, let me read this for Ed. So he has those two books, and it was kind of like, oh, I kind of know this. Okay, you know what? When someone smarter than you says something that you think you're like, fuck, yeah.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I knew it.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

I knew it. Let me fucking do it, right? So this guy is like, all These science terms. And I'm like, I can fucking do that shit. It's called breathing and reflecting. And he has these guided meditations that got me there. And then I discovered how to do it on my own. So many people follow him for years and years. I admire him and his work, but I want to do this myself. I want to depend solely on myself to be able to get myself out of these situations.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Last year, Jess had a grand mal seizure out of nowhere in front of her kids. And it had some lasting effects. She's also an immigrant, part of the Hispanic community in LA. And if you've watched the news at all in 2025, you've seen how our city has been terrorized by ICE agents, sowing fear and tension and committing really scary acts of violence in every neighborhood. Jesse says the best thing we can do, which doesn't require making any grand proclamations, is just sit with yourself and breathe.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Here was my biggest aha moment, okay? Because I gained awareness, presence. I became conscious. I turn off the water when I brush my teeth. Now, if I can become aware of something so small, you cannot imagine the awareness that I have now. Which is why I can look at my life this past year and say, fuck, I've grown and there's a lot of things that I need work on so much. But I have gotten myself out of stress this past year. What growth. I haven't met all of my goals. What growth? Right. I love Jess. I love her so fucking much. I'm proud of her. I don't feel shame because I'm undocumented. I don't feel shame because I don't have the big house. I don't feel shame because I didn't have that American dream. I am fucking proud that I am sacrificing my life in a country where I can't. I don't even have the right to travel for my child to grow in an environment where there's more opportunity to recognize that this year has been my biggest takeaway. So moving into this 2026, if I can just say to everyone, the number one relationship that you need to work on 2026 is the relationship with yourself. Because if not, we all fall into the same thing again. This. Go to the gym and buy 200, you know, and 200 membership gym, and that's going to fix your problems. No, just move forward with compassion for yourself. It's much easier and you enjoy the process. Instead of pressuring yourself, you're not useful if you're under stress. You don't make Right. Decisions. You're reactive, you're angry, and then the people that love you suffer. Okay, so you are not. Yes. You care so much about the world. You care so much that you're going to take care of yourself first to see how you. How under a different perspective and not in fight or flight mode, you're going to react with a clear head, moving forward. With the stress, being tamed. I've had enough time to reflect on that, on the growth, because I was in fight.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

What is it?

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Fight or flight mode, and I wasn't aware. Now with all of that past me and being so aware, I realize that most of us, what we like to do is compare and judge ourselves on that and feel like we're not good enough. So guess what? Whatever your parents told you, guess what? Now you're telling it yourself.

[BILT Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

So you kind of have to remove those grooves in your brain. Right. So I did that, and I'm grateful for it. Now I'm at a moment where I reflected in the last quarter of the year. I kind of reflected, and I'm just like, this is great. This is my growth. And moving into the next year, I feel that there's a little disconnection for me in these areas of my life. I. I want to be adventurous again. I want to ride my bike. I want to hang out and do things where I can discover even more of myself and savor life, experience life. I am very physically active, so I am setting up a weekly date with myself. And my husband can come along if he wants, but with myself, whether he's there or not, to go and do these things that I used to love. And that brought me so much happiness. But there's no pressure. I'm just redefining myself. And that's what a New Year's resolution should be. Reconnecting with yourself, learning more about yourself, growing in love with yourself, in a relationship with you. It took an entire year for me to realize that. That it didn't happen in January. It didn't happen in April. It happened when I noticed that I was brushing my teeth and I turned off the water.

[BILT Advertiser]

It's 2026, and if you're still paying rent without Bilt, it's time for a change. BILT is a loyalty program for renters that rewards you for your biggest monthly expense. Rent. I don't like paying rent, and I bet you don't either, but BILT makes it feel a little better. BILT is the loyalty program for renters that rewards you monthly with points and exclusive benefits. In your neighborhood. Let me explain. With bilt, every rent payment earns you points that can be used towards flights, hotels, Lyft rides, Amazon.com purchases and so much more. And here's something I'm really excited about. Starting in February, BILT members can earn points on mortgage payments for the first time. Soon you'll be able to get rewarded wherever you live and unlock exclusive benefits with more than 45,000 restaurants, fitness studios, pharmacies and other neighborhood partners. Personally, I'd use my BILT points for travel. Turning rent into flights feels like a win. It's simple. Paying rent is better with bilt and soon owning a home will be better with BILT too. Earn rewards and get something back wherever you live. Join the loyalty program for renters at joinbilt.com acasta that's J-O-I-N B I-L-T.com acast make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Welcome back to the dream. Today we're talking New Year's resolutions. A recent ish study in 2014 called the Fresh Start Study claimed to show that special days like New Year's or a birthday, or even the first of the month or the first day of school are actually great times to set a goal and achieve it. But I don't know. It's true that Google searches for diets and gyms spike at the beginning of the year. So yeah, it's something we're all thinking about, and we're all more likely to go to the gym at the beginning of the year, but also at the beginning of the month, and even more likely at the beginning of a week or a semester. School semesters outperform the first day of the year by a lot in terms of goal setting and achieving. But many studies have also shown that if you just put a random date on the calendar as the day you're going to start something, it can be more effective than January 1st or your birthday or a Monday. It is definitely easier though, to study something that comes with built in guardrails as opposed to just asking people, hey, which random Wednesday did you decide to start playing tennis? And which random Friday did you realize you were good at it? January 1st to December 31st. It's a nice box to peer into, even if if it's completely made up. Mostly the Fresh Start idea is being used, you guessed it, by marketing teams at large corporations to goad you into spending money. It's why you get all those emails saying hurry before the end of the year. Take advantage of this or by your next birthday, don't you want to have this? So they're just setting the start date for you and it works. Another fun thing, January 1st is also Public Domain Day. Every year on January 1st, a bunch of cool artistic works lose their copyrights and become available for any of us to ruin for free. Victims this year include the Maltese Falcon, the earliest Nancy Drew and Miss Marple stories in kids books, it's the Little Engine that Could, and Dick and Jane. In cartoon world, we get to totally destroy Betty Boop and Blondie. And in music, there's Georgia on My mind, body and soul. Then their Eyes, like some of my favorite old jazz standards. Or how about this classic sung here by Judy Garland?

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Forget your troubles, come on, get happy. You better chase all your cares away. Shout hallelujah.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

I'll leave you with my very favorite writing about New Year's resolutions. It was written in 1931 by Virginia Woolf. She said of her own resolutions, first, to have none, not to be tied. Second, to be free and kindly with myself, not goading it to parties, to sit rather privately reading in the studio to make a good job of the waves, which is a book she was writing, to care nothing for making money. As for Nellie, Nellie was her servant. As for Nellie, to stop irritation by the assurance that nothing is worth irritation. If it comes back, she must go then. Well, the chief resolution is the most not to make resolutions. Sometimes to read, sometimes not to read. To go out, yes, but stay at home in spite of being asked. As for clothes, I think to buy good ones.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Come on, get happy.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

The Dream is a production of little everywhere you can find ad free versions of our [e-mail] Hallelujah.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Come on, get happy. We're going to the promised land. Head and cross river throw sands away in the tide. It's also peaceful on the other side. Shout alleluia. Come on, get out.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

ACAST powers the world's best podcasts.

[Jessie Munro (Wellness Coach)]

Here's a show that we recommend.

[Guest or Additional Narrator]

We all have bad days and sometimes bad weeks and maybe even bad years. But the good news is we don't have to figure out life all alone. I'm comedian Chris Duffy, host of ted's how to Be a Better Human podcast. And our show is about the little ways that you can improve your life. Actual practical tips that you can put into place that will make your day to day better. Whether it is setting boundaries at work or rethinking how you clean your house, each episode has conversations with experts who share tips on how to navigate life's ups and downs. Find how to be a better human wherever you're listening to this ACAST helps.

[Host (The Dream Podcast)]

Creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.