Are You A Resolver Or A Nonresolver?

Happy New Year! Okay, so I'm about a week late, but get over it. Things are well here in Oxford, Ohio, and I've had a most enjoyable break that is soon to end as classes start on Monday. Joy and I had a wonderful five days in the Chicago area over Christmas, and then returned to this town that becomes wonderfully quiet when all of the undergraduates head home. I was able to easily find a table at my local coffee shop, had no trouble finding parking spaces, and didn't get close to hitting any freshman crossing the street. Good days indeed.

Many people do the whole New Year resolution thing. Some people think it's completely dumb, while others think it's a good opportunity to effect change into life. I'm a little bit in the middle. While I think reflection and renewal are appropriate when the end of one year approaches and a new year begins, I'm not too big on the whole resolution thing. Does the change of a calendar really promote actual, long-lasting change?

In psychological research, the terms "resolvers" and "nonresolvers" are used, and it has been demonstrated that resolvers are in fact more often going to make a change, but only when the goal comes from high amounts of self-concordance, the extent to which the goal reflects personal values and interests and isn't a goal simply based on felt pressures, either external or internal (Koestner & Powers, 2002).

So, if change is based on a reflection of personal interests and values, it seems that those interests and values must be cultivated and developed over the course of all twelve months, not just in the final weeks of a year. Sure, the change of years may serve as a calibration of a value/ideal, but the value/ideal must be there in the first place before any calibration can take place.

I don't say all this to make you feel rotten if you're either a big fan of resolutions or if you made a resolution two weeks ago and, how can this be?!, you've already broken the resolution. If you're in the latter category, do you just give up now, knowing that you'll probably try the exact same goal again in 11 months? That seems silly. If resolutions are about actual change, then actual change is really hard to make happen--just ask any addict who wants to find sobriety--so falls off the wagon are not only going to happen, but they should be expected to happen. And then you recalibrate, re-focus on your values and goals, consider what supports you might need to reach your goal (friends, spouse, accountability, God), and dive back in, giving yourself enough motivation to effect change, but also enough grace to effect love.