4 ms·
> Some people are cynical about New Year's resolutions, prefer not to make them, or look down on others who do. > I have a different perspective. Overall, I ad
by janwillemb 3y ago
> Some people are cynical about New Year's resolutions, prefer not to make them, or look down on others who do.
> I have a different perspective. Overall, I admire people who try to make change in their lives for the better.
This is good general advice. Why not just be supportive and nice to people instead of dismissing whatever effort they put in things that they want to do or are passionate about.
This makes it easier for yourself to change too, whenever that is desirable or needed.
- ionyun 3y agoThe thinking that goes into things like new years resolutions is also part of a greater ideology though. That in itself dismisses fundamental changes for unrealistic scenarios. That you don't need good housing, working conditions or health care because with this one business, diet or lifestyle trick you will beat the odds. In many countries the majority now are overweight or obese in their sixties. Despite more knowledge, method and products than ever. And that is counting all the outliers who just don't eat much or are very active. There is nothing wrong with a new years resolution but you have to take it for what it is. Actually getting fitter, eating better and losing weight is a multiple year commitment at least. If it is hard for any extended period of time the likelihood of success is low.
- couchand 3y agoThe stereotypical buy-a-gym-membership-use-it-once resolution doesn't encompass the whole of the thing. Another line of thinking that goes into things like New Years' resolutions is the idea that significant change can only be intentionally and effectively made in a long series of tiny steps. The OP discusses the dual of this idea but misses the main thing: > The reality is that if you are going to do something that's really difficult, like changing your whole approach to eating, you are likely to either fail, or to accumulate the kind of micro-failures over time that erode your motivation, death by a thousand cuts. The flip side here is that overall progress is composed of micro-successes over time that build your motivation.
- poulsbohemian 3y ago>buy-a-gym-membership-use-it-once resolution d I've kinda got a hypothesis on this... see in the cold of winter, going to the gym is a great idea. But as spring comes around, you want to be outside - maybe even hiking, biking, etc, IE: being physically active. Then the kids are home all summer and you get distracted with family activities. Then the kids go back to school but you are out of routine going to the gym and it takes a while to get back into the pattern. My point is, I think we all jump to this idea that the person who stops going to the gym is being lazy, whereas I think a lot of it has to do with patterns of behavior and "externalities."
- bratbag 3y agoAnd yet, success is higher when others support and reinforce. So don't use statistics as an excuse to be a dick.
- slingnow 3y agoAnd obviously, success is higher when selecting a strategy more likely to succeed. For my money I'm going to expose the person to a better strategy rather than supporting and reinforcing a clearly bad one.
- ryanklee 3y agoBut it's not clear at all. So maybe back off the take downs until you have better data.
- timeagain 3y ago+1. Using statistics about a population to make determinations about a specific outcome is often fallacious anyway. “70% of businesses fail” might sound like it is a bad idea to start one, but of course every business succeeds or fails on its own specific merits.
- pj_mukh 3y ago"because with this one business, diet, or lifestyle trick you will beat the odds." stares awkwardly at the Bottle of Ozempic in the corner
- ionyun 3y agoI don't really know about Ozempic in detail, but from my viewpoint it is two-sided. On the one hand it doesn't solve the fundamental problem. On the other it does, presumably, make it easier. Therefor you don't have to beat the odds. Compared to most other ways of losing weight which makes things harder while not addressing gaining weight in the long run.
- copperx 3y agoWith all due respect, your opinion is misinformed.
- Waterluvian 3y agoIt’s just like quitting smoking. I don’t really care to scorn the 9/10ths (or whatever the number is) who fail. I care to celebrate the 1/10th that succeeds. It’s more a confession to the mindset of these people who fixate on the pessimistic side of a pitched battle.
- BlueTemplar 3y agoDepends on the context. Consider for instance a recidivist drug addict - wouldn't you be skeptical that they are going to stay clean this time ?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- nativeit 3y agoIf you love the person, you applaud the continued effort. If you don’t, you stay out of it.
- nativeit 3y agoThat you use an explicitly legal turn of phrase to describe a physical disorder says a lot about your attitude towards those who have struggled with addiction, and your apparent disdain for anyone who might not succeed.
- katzgrau 3y agoAll that matters is that they keep trying. I tried to establish a workout routine for years and it didn’t ever stick … until it did. I’ve worked out 3-5x per week since 2016 and have benefitted immensely, and have successfully helped others do the same.
- janwillemb 3y agoSame here, without the "successfully helped others". Care to elaborate a bit on that?
- katzgrau 3y agoClose friends and family would more/less say “you’re in good shape, I want to do that,” and I’d basically tell them my story and how I made it happen. Tell them how good I feel most days, have confidence, etc. Most people don’t start, some do but don’t stick with it, a minority make it to that point where they see what I was saying and make it a habit long term habit.
- andrewla 3y agoI think there's a clear differentiation between how we behave towards individuals vs. how we view a large-scale phenomenon. For an individual, the attempt to improve yourself is usually admirable. But I am cynical about New Year's resolutions, and I think my priors are something like "the decision to make a change on New Years is more likely to fail than the same decision made at any other arbitrary point in time because 'everyone knows' that New Year's resolutions fail". If someone had a problem that involved making life changes to fix or make progress on it, amongst the worst possible prescriptions for fixing this problem would be "make a resolution".
- bulwarkd 3y ago[dead]