New Year’s resolutions generally go unfulfilled. Oftentimes, making a New Year’s resolution can be counterproductive, as it can habituate you to breaking the promises you make to yourself. Consider trying a new approach, called a “strength intervention.” Instead of focusing on improving your weaknesses, try to maximize your strengths. The idea may seem counterintuitive, as we’re hardwired to focus our attention on lack and injury. However, it can make more sense to invest in what you’re good at as you already have a foundation to build on.
Key Takeaways:
- While it may be touted as a time for new beginnings, New Year’s day is often just another day in many people’s lives.
- A better approach to self-improvement than swearing “this year I’ll do…” is to focus on our strengths.
- Focusing on what we do well, listing and improving these areas will energize, motivate, and give us confidence.
“New Yea’s Eve is a generic cultural marker, helpful in noting the passage of time and the cyclical nature of things, but lacking, for most people, any deep personal resonance.”