Why Bother With New Years Resolutions?

[@brxmbrxm]

"Spleen of spleens" ha ha ha. Love it.

[@randomgirl8078]

I’m always so happy when I see you’ve made a new post! You make my life better 😊

[@amandachapman4708]

Oh, that's a good way of thinking about it. I'm not really into New Year Resolutions, as I have the persistence of a lump of jelly (jello), but I could perhaps have something like "each day, do something to care for myself."

[@lactobacillusprime]

Excellent points. A lot of people expect that in the new year they somehow magically think the things they hate now they will suddenly and sort of magically feel like doing all the time in the new year with this 'resolution' thing. Often externally motivated as there is no intrinsic motivation and their hearts aren't in it. I've stopped making these resolutions at the turn of a year - there here and now is what counts. That is where I try to make a change / my changes. Procrastination and avoiding is nipped in the butt. Or that's the idea. Slowly shifting habits instead. I reckon using the verb - 'I want to' instead of 'I have to' or 'I must' makes my motivation intrinsic. Makes a world of difference for me.

[@oldepersonne]

Rick inspired me to stand up and do 5 minutes of calisthenics while watching this. Baby steps.

[@junow2]

In 2018, I've made a list for a 3-year span of things I'd like to happen / change / achieve. Instead of ticking it off, I put a little dot beside each item every time I looked at the list (no timetable to look at it) if I felt that I was anywhere closer to feeling satisfied about that item. It was really pleasant to see it at the end of the 3-year period. I may not have ticked all of it, but I worked towards most of them and it was great.

[@wordscrafter]

I gave up resolutions several years ago. I give myself a win or lose at the end of the day. Now, I'm incorporating the 'do any kind of exercise for at least 10 minutes' goal. Fantastic idea, ending the year healthy!!!

[@Dsdcain]

Since I was in my early 20s I've made and kept the same New Years Resolution. I'm in my 50s now. "I hereby resolve to change nothing about myself." It's true. whenever someone asks me I say the same thing. There is no sense of failure at all.

[@Kalaydascope]

I was just thinking about New Years resolutions and how I hate them. This makes goals much easier to set. Thanks for sharing!

[@1984potionlover]

Mr. Rick, I have found that sometimes the easiest way to do things, is literally, bear with me here....do them. I am ADHD/Executive Function Disordered as they come... I have a black belt in procrastination, and I'm a self recognized Savant of at least 10th level. You can quote me on that! I ponder things, in detail, for eons, or until the next Apocalypse that occurs around these here parts. One in a million disasters, and the odd miracle of serendipity happen here on a daily basis, though surprisingly it's neither disc or pear shaped, just life, Rick...Life as WE know it. 😉 My point, which I may actually saunter casually towards, or perhaps go straight on adrenalin turbo if I get inspired, is, that after much planning etc., with detours to the news, KZbin, that article that just keeps prodding me to read it, and the fact that I really must deal with the order of things in that junk drawer right now...(shut it...

[@RickHasADHD]

Yes, Nancy, sometimes I get so fed up with my procrastination that I just push past it. But that's not consistent. What does help is to just 'bear with' the feeling of 'I don't wanna' and in a minute or two it fades and I can start. Kind of 'leaning into' the discomfort, rather than immediately deciding I can't. I even give myself a little pep talk... and of course, choose a reward for getting it done.

[@jobo226]

I was kind of thinking about setting goals for how I want to feel about myself at the end of the year. Rather than try to lose x pounds by Dec 31st, I'm going to aim to feel like someone who eats healthy and works out regularly. That way, if my metabolism disagrees or I end up gaining weight because I replaced body fat with muscle mass, I won't feel like a failure because of an arbitrary number I picked at the beginning of the year. And, I don't know, I feel like the immediate reward of feeling like I'm making a good choice when I pick something healthy will be more motivating than thinking that I'll find out if my whole week's worth of choices made any difference or not in a week's time when I weigh myself again.

[@ddpwe5269]

Great points Rick! I've personal gone the direction of not bothering with the new years resolution, specially at the new year. It was feeling too restrictive and have just gone with doing at least 2 different things throughout the year to improve on. That seems to be working better, as I'm not forcing myself to do it right away, but procrastinate enough that it feels good to do.

[@mkssounds]

Thank you so much 🙏🙏🙏

[@RickHasADHD]

You are so welcome!

[@TheHjalmur]

I did once suffer a depilatory ham-thing confusion. But now I'm vegan. And the hair grew back. Still confused. A lot.

[@Sugar3Glider]

Seasonal overarching goals have been a benefit to me for sure. Doing one thing for a whole year sucks.

[@fdagpigj]

Reaching goals can be much easier if there's a person you know and respect who is already at or beyond the level you're aiming for :) I never personally saw the point in new year's resolutions, so I've never made one, because having a plan and the flexibility to start whenever you are actually able to commit is more important than doing it on one specific day of the year. Plus I'd just forget what way I'd actually like to improve myself in, unless I write/plan it out beforehand, but if I do, I'll end up so hyped about it that I couldn't possibly wait until the new year, or if I did, I'd just lose all that hype I built up.

[@RickHasADHD]

Yes, and for many people having a 'buddy' or a support group helps. In our Patron Chat Rooms one of the channels is called The-Buddy-System and Patrons can connect with each other, pairing up, or even better, a posse of three people. I've found having the extra person makes a big difference, because it increases the odds that someone will remember, "Oh, right. I have to list my goals for the day." Or "I have to share how I did yesterday."

[@9crutnacker985]

I honestly can't remember the last time I made one. Has to be getting on over 40yrs ago. Pointless 'tradition'. If I recall correctly originally this was an old Norse thing & the 'resolution' was to do something 'heroic' so was a once in lifetime thing.

[@RickHasADHD]

There's also the possibility of doing something heroic each day. Checking on a neighbour. Comforting someone in need. Or, somedays, getting out of bed and making something healthy to eat.

[@tarawatterson4188]

Thanks for the giggles and the encouragement 😊

[@ddpwe5269]

Right on Rick! Noticed you have the How Not to Die and Diet books from Dr. Greger, awesome! What do you think about the connection with our food and the symptoms we experience? Have you changed your diet to be similar? If you have, did you notice a difference? I know when I switched to WFPB, my symptoms were much easier to manage, although still there of course, just not as over-bearing as they use to be. I guess I should have listened to the whole video first as I see you're on your way my friend, AWESOME! I really do believe you'll notice a change once you fully switch over. Especially, with the caffeine, although I find the caffeine from tea nowhere near as bad as coffee.

[@RickHasADHD]

Yeah, some days I miss the caffeine, but if I'm feeling sluggish physically or cognitively I assume I need some water, a nap, or some physical activity.

[@ddpwe5269]

@@RickHasADHD Yeah, I cycle on and off caffeine, currently off atm. I'm going to try every other day the next time and see how it affects me. Just can't get away from how good it tastes hehe You're definitely right about the sluggish part. Although, another thing could be you just need to eat something or have food that will keep your blood sugars more level ie: WFPB. When I first switched, it honestly felt like I was high all the time, but all it was is my system being much more balanced and never feeling ups or downs from insulin spikes. I really think that helps quite a bit with that, but not to mention that it's the best way to make more neurotransmitters, as our system has a hard time with making/keeping in the first place. Among other reasons as well like reduced inflammation. Soooo many positives to help reduce all the negatives we get from life, let alone from the food we eat.

[@Ph0t0bug]

I so far have been very successful with my resolution to not make a resolution in 2021….

[@Stormbrise]

I never really set a goal or resolution last year, I went about changing the way I ate everyday. Just doing a daily fasting for at least 14 hours and not eating the recommended 245 carbs a day. I lost over 70 lbs without trying really since April 2020, and less carbs since last spring.

[@RickHasADHD]

That's awesome. We had started moving to a vegan diet when the pandemic hit, and it was much easier to stick with it because we weren't going out for meals. (And when we were we either got vegan pizza or A&W's Beyond Meat Burger. (So good!) We lost a combined 50 pounds thought we've put a bit back on after a very stressful and tumultuous year.

[@Stormbrise]

That is great that it worked for you during the stay at home orders. I think that is what spurred me to start also, I was stuck in Oregon and away from my husband for 7 months.

[@alurban2]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@DiscipleOfHeavyMeta1]

NYR is a good way to NOT follow through your resolutions.

[@TheNLSuperGames]

Hey Rick, why did you delete/hide almost all the old video's? I liked them :(

[@RickHasADHD]

It's a long story. That's all I can say. But, we are working hard to build a new library thanks to our Patrons. And at some point I hope those videos will be available again. Thanks to our Patrons for keeping me going.

[@_infinitedomain]

this is actually really helpful!

[@killerdude151]

New Years Resolutions stressed me out a great deal, until I figured out nobody really cares if you have them or not. Also, if I figure I need to change something, why should I wait until the new year to do that?