Throwback Thursday: New Year’s resolution stories #TBT

[#1]

It's Thursday!

Like many people, I’ve made (and broken) my fair share of New Year’s resolutions. One of the most common ones New Year’s resolutions is probably "This year I will get in shape". I imagine it has a particularly impressive failure rate. I know this because, more than once, I've set that resolution...

Back in Iceland, if you really want to understand what’s going on in the community, like what people are thinking, worrying about, or the pulse in the community, just sit quietly in a hot tub, at one of the many public pools, and listen. The hot tubs are where the real commentary happens. They’re basically a combination of town hall, therapy session, and gossip column.

Once I was sitting in a hot tub in the middle of January, when two bodybuilders started talking about how horribly crowded the gym was these days. Then one of them said, with absolute confidence: “Don’t worry. In a couple of weeks, these people will give up, and we’ll have the gym back to ourselves.” 

Soooo, share with us some New Year’s resolutions stories - either about yourself or others :)

Let’s make it a great Thursday!
KGM

[Stephen_Lugton]

The last time I made a resolution to go to the gym at least twice a week was 2020, then there was a global pandemic and I wasn't allowed to go to the gym!

Another year was the no alcohol for January resolution, that one only lasted 23 months!

This year's resolution is to (a) remember that I can just click the leave button when stress happens, and (b) carry a fidget spinner or similar for when I can't click the leave button (e.g. office days).  I talked to HR, and these are now both HR approved responses as long as I don't tell other people that they can do this as well!

[Tomislav Tobijas]

I have a 'home gym', so it's relatively easy for me, but I'll just say that the initial couple of weeks were pretty hard to get into that mindset of working out daily. Nowadays, my back starts hurting if I just skip a day (I believe it's more of a mental problem than a physical one 😂)

Anyway, personal goals for this year are more related to the financial area 💹, together with some (bi)yearly goals I've set. I can say it's all going pretty well, and we're only 8 days into the year lol

[Andy Gladstone]

I do not make New Year's resolutions. I try to get better each day, and won't let an arbitrary day on the Gregorian calendar dictate when my introspection starts or stops.

That being said, I am in the middle of a streak of days of riding my bike at least 30 minutes, and I am trying to stretch that as far as I can - not a resolution, just personal challenge.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

I've read, in some article from 2015 I think, that about 25% of people have already abandoned their resolutions by January 7. "25% by Jan 7” statistic. Pretty wild. More recent stats seem to have a mid‑January through mid‑February window where many folks drop their resolutions.

Personally, I didn't set any resolutions for this year. Like @Andy Gladstone , I try to daily get a bit better as well as randomly through the year set some goals.

[Kevin Tuei]

For me, rather than have a set of resolutions I have buckets which I have to "pour into" again for me my New Year starts with my Birthday because it is quite personal to me and a good time to introspect as I turn a new age. 

These buckets usually are in no particular order:

• Family & Loved Ones
• Health, Fitness & Wellness
• Community & Networks
• Education & Professional Development
• Spirituality & Mindfulness
• Finance & Investment

So every year I have one or two that are a priority area for me, for example last year was all about Community and the Finance. This year my focus is on Health and Spirituality. It does not mean I have abandoned the others but I am more intentional to be 1% better each day on that particular area without the overwhelm of dozens of resolutions that will eventually be abandoned. Again, this I learned the hard way when I couldn't keep up with resolutions year in year out. 

[Barbara Szczesniak]

I did not even think about setting a resolution this year, and no one I've been around in the last 2 weeks has mentioned them either. 

I think that I will just try to do some act of kindness for someone when an opportunity arises—large, small, family member, friend, or stranger.

[John Funk]

I have the same resolution every year - not to make any resolutions!!

I have accomplished my resolution every year for the past 10 years!!

[Amanda Barber]

Like @Andy Gladstone said, I am always on a continual improvement journey. Some years, I've tried to set a single word as an intention for the year. I always picked something that could be sort of a North star while being broad enough that it could apply in many ways even if life went south. No word for this year and no resolutions for me! 

Love seeing all of these different ways of working on goals and making ourselves better. 💙

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

That´s a great one, @John Funk ! And you are amazingly successful at it. You should write a book about your technique...

[John Funk]

Hmmm, maybe I will! "How to Keep Your New Year's Resolution 100% of the Time"

Guessing it will be a short story. 

[Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_]

Oh my gosh, my exact words and experience this week at the gym. I was telling a friend of mine that "look at this, I am here, all year every year, and these wild crowds attack each January, making my life miserable" :D

I stay away from New Year Resolutions because I generally don't believe them. If I want to start a change, I start it right away and never rely on that "Starting from Monday" kind of thing.

I've had a terrible 2025, so my hope for 2026 is to be different, and I will put my efforts into nudging it in that direction.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

You got this, @Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_  I have faith in you for 2026! And hahahaha to your story. Isn't it so true!?!

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Takk for your comments and...