Why We Make Resolutions

Plus: the allure of our unlived lives; improving ourselves to death; and the science of breaking bad habits. View in browser | Update your preferences A Critic at Large What If You Could Do It All Over? The uncanny allure of our unlived lives. By Joshua Rothman From the Archive: Resolutions and the New Year Annals of Technology Why We Make Resolutions (and Why They Fail) It turns out that timing is important in determining whether or not we succeed. By Maria Konnikova A Critic at Large Improving Ourselves to Death What the self-help gurus and their critics reveal about our times. By Alexandra Schwartz Books Can Brain Science Help Us Break Bad Habits? Studies suggest that relying on will power is hopeless. Instead, we must find strategies that don’t require us to be strong. By Jerome Groopman Books What It Takes to Put Your Phone Away Rather than establishing a set of rigorous habits, we may need to rethink our approach to life in general. By Jia Tolentino Podcast Dept. Can Podcasts Improve Our Well-Being? “The Happiness Lab” is part of a wave of positive-psychology audio that takes a quantitative view of the quest to be happy. By Alexandra Schwartz Modern Life Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty Millennials who see no contradiction between using astrology and believing in science are fuelling a resurgence of the practice. By Christine Smallwood Fiction “How Can I Help?” “Hayley’s coffee behavior reveals that she is not a rational person, who would understand that the best thing she can do, for her and for Dusty, is to keep coming in to work.” By Rivka Galchen Books The Pitfalls and the Potential of the New Minimalism The mantra of “less is more” still obeys a logic of accumulation—but it hints at genuinely different ways of thinking. By Jia Tolentino Humor from The New Yorker Daily Shouts Romantic Combinations That Add Up to One Satisfactory Boyfriend A spouse, minus their financial and emotional needs. By Caitie Karasik and Ginny Hogan Sketchpad Which Doomed New Year’s Resolution Are You? Will this finally be the year that you don’t learn Mandarin? By Olivia de Recat Daily Cartoon Friday, January 1st By Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby This e-mail was sent to you by The New Yorker. To insure delivery, we recommend adding newyorker@newsletters.newyorker.com, to your contacts, while noting that it is a no-reply address. Please send all newsletter feedback to tnyinbox@newyorker.com. For more from The New Yorker, sign up for our newsletters, shop the store, and sign in to newyorker.com, where subscribers always have unlimited access. Contact us with questions. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.