This week, as we leave one year behind and embark on a new one, we've got some resolutions. If going to the gym were a good idea lately, we might at long last head there to get in shape. But this January, at least for now, it might be better to settle in and read about resolutions rather than rush out to fulfill them. In “This Is the Year!,” Colin Nissan offers a humorous primer on how best to achieve your ambitions. (“Start small with your weight-loss goals. Begin with your fingers.”) In “Why We Make Resolutions (and Why They Fail),” Maria Konnikova examines the psychology behind our annual self-improvement campaigns and considers the best ways of following through. Good luck! In “Cancel New Year’s Eve Forever,” Sarah Miller argues for the dissolution of the festivities altogether—and not only during periods of Omicron anxiety. Finally, in “Greetings, Friends!,” Ian Frazier, our seasonal bard, runs down a list of notable observations from our first pandemic year: “Let gladness rise, despite, despite; / ‘Love one another’ routs the night, / And kindness is a folding chair / We carry with us everywhere.” Happy reading—and a healthy New Year to all.
—David Remnick
From The New Yorker’s Archive
Cultural Comment
Cancel New Year’s Eve Forever
Not just the parties. Our acknowledgment of a new year must become strictly clerical.
By Sarah Miller | December 28, 2020
Daily Shouts
This Is the Year!
If you stop drinking soda, replace it with becoming more sedentary. You deserve it.
By Colin Nissan | December 28, 2012
Newsletters
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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 | December 20, 2013
Poems
Greetings, Friends!
And praises sing for what is here: / The end to this undreamt-of year!
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