New Year’s Resolutions Are a Trap

Fitter. Happier. More productive. There, robot worker drone, you’re fixed!

Siobhan Adcock
Forge

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Photo:
Luis Alvarez / Getty Images

YYou know what would be great? If I weighed 30 pounds less, worked more efficiently, fought for justice, parented with patience, spent less money, and never experienced sadness, anger, frustration, or temptation.

Hey, I know what I’ll do! I’ll just resolve to make that happen! First, I’ll decide that I’m going to change, um, everything about myself, and second, I’ll decide on an arbitrary day to begin — oh, hell, call it January 1.

To start, in order to lose 30 pounds, I’ll get a wearable health device and join a gym. Unfortunately, this means I’ll need to break my resolution to spend less money. To compensate, I’ll work harder to make more money. But this means I’ll have less time to devote to causes that are meaningful to me. So much for that resolution—but to be honest, I kinda just threw that one in there anyway. To make up for it, I’ll double down on family. We’ll have board game nights and family dinners and meaningful experiences and throw our phones into the river.

See how really, really great this is all going?

Okay, look, I’m not saying it’s pointless to try to improve yourself or your life. What I’m saying is you are not actually broken. Your money…

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Siobhan Adcock
Forge

Siobhan Adcock is the author of two novels, The Completionist and The Barter, as well as essays in Ms., Salon, Slate, and McSweeneys. siobhanadcock.com