The turn of the new year can be a good time to reflect, and that in turn can be a good time to make resolutions. But if I had to guess, the overwhelming majority of resolutions that require any significant time and effort fail. Some of the resolutions made may be made for bad reasons such as wishful thinking or external pressure to change rather than internal motivation. Or many people may try to keep their resolutions though will power alone, but that’s often impractical especially when we’re talking about changes to behavioural patterns. There are reasons we cultivate those behavioural patterns, and if those reasons aren’t addressed, all our willpower is just being focused on fighting against ourselves.
I’ve always made my New Year’s resolutions well in advance of the new year. It gives me time to plan how I intend to keep the resolution. For instance, this year, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I planned to start training properly for climbing. I’ve had the last four months to work on my physical conditioning, test out components of training regimens, feel out what sorts of emotional, logistical, and physical barriers to success I might have. I’ve had time to think about how I want to measure and benchmark success. Next week I start on keeping the resolution, and I feel equipped for success.
Waiting for the new year, specifically, may seem arbitrary when I actually made the resolution months ago, but there are few reasons it made sense:
i) The holidays are disruptive to routines. The bouldering gym gets too crowded to train properly when people have time off. I prioritize time with family over climbing during the holidays. I relax my diet. I also agreed to work more hours through Christmas this year. Keeping a resolution of this nature requires forming good habits, which takes time and consistency.
ii) I needed training equipment, some of which I got as Christmas presents and some of which I got on holiday sales.
iii) While the new year is really no more special a time than any other, psychologically, it brings about a feeling of newness. A fresh year feels like a fresh start and that feeling—whether it’s rational or not—can be motivating. I assume it’s that very feeling that drives the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. On top of that, other people I climb with may be feeling that new year hype in January, so I’d be happy to tap into that enthusiasm before it dims in a few weeks.
As a secondary resolution, I plan to take at least one climbing road trip this year. The magic of road trips is half the reason I wanted to get back into climbing, so that’s what I am most looking forward to. I tried booking camping for a trip in April, but unfortunately I can’t book that far in advance. While it wasn’t intended to be a birthday trip (I never celebrate) I plan to leave the day I turn forty. I guess that’s a milestone. Might as well spend that week living how I know best.
Belle Rose 2 months, 3 weeks ago.
