Thoughts on Time And Resolutions
This was sent to subscribers of The Journaling Guide in the waning days of 2024, and I wanted to share it here for you. I think there’s some useful ideas here about how we treat the New Year and ourselves. Hope you enjoy!
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2025 is nearly here, and in the quiet moments of reflection, I'm thinking a lot about time.
The greatest takeaway from spending nearly three years at home with my family before returning to work is that time is the most important measurement of our lives. It is the vessel in which we exist. It's where everyone we love and everything that has challenged or helped us grow resides, and all we hope for and desire remains in potential. We trade time for the basics we need and the luxuries we want, and all too often, we spend it without regard, staring at our phones and ignoring the people and ideas most important to us.
Despite its importance to every aspect of our lives, we aren't wired to see time as precious. Perhaps that's because a strong focus on time would inevitably bring more attention to mortality, which isn't exactly conducive to most of our daily human conditions. It's hard to get the groceries shopped and the kids to school when you're starting at the clock in existential dread.
That daily journaling habit feels more crucial than ever right now.
My fascination with how we understand time isn't new. A few years back, I took a deep dive into the book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing by Dan Pink. I read it multiple times and dug deeply, taking notes and pulling quotations that really spoke to me.
Pink wrote about The Fresh Start Effect, which explains how we use temporal landmarks to help us navigate the passage of time and make sense of our worlds. This, along with societal buy-in from advertisers trying to sell things and well-meaning people who like the feeling of declaring an intention, has popularized January 1st as the time for making resolutions.
The problem is they don't often work. From a post that I wrote several years ago:
It's worth noting that most resolutions, even with the best intentions, do not stick. That's largely down to a misunderstanding of the power of habits and an inability to change those negative soundtracks that get stuck in our heads.
And another thought from a different post:
Did you start something new on the first of the year? Congratulations!
Now, take the next step and ask yourself: What's the plan beyond picking a meaningful start date?
Are you thinking about the new habits you'll need to be successful? Have you written them down in a journal or task manager to make them stick? How will you hold yourself accountable? Is someone helping you with that, or are you tracking streaks, maybe using the Seinfeld System?
Ultimately, long-term success comes from a combination of inspiration and the process of planning, habit development, follow-through, and review. The temporal landmark brings meaning, but you must have the determination.
I hope whatever you do in the new year, whether its a resolution or not, serves you.
I'll close with a final thought on time and temporal landmarks.
It's not the goals that matter as much as the momentum we find when we do the right thing the right way. So much of what gets lumped into resolutions are just good habits done well. Parenting, exercising, learning a new language, being an attentive spouse, obtaining a promotion, and writing a novel all require you to get started, live with the imperfections, and keep going.
Celebrate your wins. Be kind to yourself. As you set your intentions for the future, take the time to look where you were and know how far you've come. You've got this.
Wishing you and yours a happy holiday. I'll see you in the new year!
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