A new you?

Transcript: A new you?

Andrew Stone, 54, from Brighton, England 

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions. There’s too much pressure and most fail, if we’re honest. So, what does work? Steady, incrementalschrittweiseincremental improvement. So, reflecting on this, I have made a new resolution. Every New Year, I’m going to reread the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Why? His book shows that getting better isn’t about grand plans, it’s a process of tweak sth.an etw. feilen, etw. optimierentweaking tiny behaviours. His habit loopGewohnheitskreislaufhabit loop, cueAuslösercue, cravingVerlangencraving, response, reward, makes change feel like a game you can win. Leaning into these behavioural traitVerhaltensmerkmalbehavioural traits builds systems that stickanhalten, Bestand habenstick. Revisiting the book each year will remind me how to make those small, clever steps to improve. 

Evan Heigert, 43, from Chicago, US 

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. As a resident of the upper Midwest where the sun disappears for months and the weather is best described as “polar survival training”, it feels downrightgeradezudownright cruel to force ourselves to give up wine, cookies or Netflix. Why add to the miseryNot, Quälereimisery of a season already built for hibernationWinterschlafhibernation? Instead, I offer the April FoolAprilscherz, 1. AprilApril Fool’s resolution. On April 1st, when the days grow longer and we reemergewieder auftauchenreemerge from our suburban caveHöhlecaves, that’s when we can start eating vegetables again, exercising outdoors or tackle sth.etw. angehen, anpackentackling a new skill. In the new hope of spring, self-improvement feels less like punishment and more like a fresh start without frostbiteFrostbeulefrostbite. 

Melita Cameron-Wood, 31, from East Sussex, England 

Personally, I don’t love the idea of New Year’s resolutions. I think there’s quite a lot of pressure involved in the idea. You either manage to successfully implement sth.etw. umsetzen, realisierenimplement your New Year’s resolution, or you fail. I don’t like that black and white mentality. I think life is more about evolution than hard cuts between achievement and failure. So, I try to have regular monthly check-ins with myself. To see what I feel is going well, what I’m grateful for, and which changes I would like to implement. 

Listen to the whole track on Spotlight Audio 1/26.