A litany of failed resolutions (and one that’s easy to keep)

Dear reader,

I once went to a New Year’s Eve party where the host made all the guests state their new year resolutions, which he subsequently arranged on a spreadsheet. The next New Year’s Eve he reacquainted us all with our choices. “So,” he said to me. “Have you written a play?”

These days I only have one rule when it comes to new year resolutions: do not, under any circumstances, write them down. Don’t put them on social media, or on a Post-it note stuck to your bathroom mirror, or in the notes section of your phone. Chances are high you won’t keep your resolutions, but as long as you don’t write them down chances are equally high you’ll have no memory of making them by next December, just as I had completely forgotten about my pledge – or even my desire – to write for the stage.

Over the years I have committed a dangerous number of new year resolutions to print, and kept precisely none of them. In 2011 I made a public vow to stop buying shoes online – they never fit, and they’re always much pointier than they look in the picture – but I repeated that mistake as recently as a month ago.

I’ve learned there is simply no point in negotiating with future you – this person who no longer shares your goal to write a play, or to read 50 books in a year. Don’t let their failure be your failure. Besides: if you only manage to read nine books in 2025, you’ll still be nine books less stupid than you were in 2024.

In the meantime here’s something you can do right now to override future-you’s lack of commitment: support us just once from €1 or set up a regular payment, from as little as €4 a month, to support the Guardian’s work right through 2025. You’ll be supporting independent journalism at a time when it’s more desperately needed than ever, and I promise that we will never send you an email reminding you to practise your Italian.

Happy New Year!

Tim Dowling,
Columnist, the Guardian

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