On procrastinating and the false security of resolutions
Choose progress over perfection
Very few concepts are embedded in our global community psyche as [insert day] resolutions, such as New Year’s, Birthday, First of Month, etc. Resolutions are great in theory, given that they provide a starting point and a target, both of which are needed to determine the success of the exercise. But, most of the time, they are a self-sabotaging trap.
As social creatures, we humans know our flaws and features, and these thoughts constantly live in our brains. Ideally, we have an improvement mindset and are looking for ways to advance as a society. Unfortunately, keeping all these thoughts in our minds builds mental stress. Committing to a resolution — privately or publicly — and offloading the thoughts into a plan enables us to remove the mental stress.
Selecting a timeline and aligning it to a particular goal gives our brain a dopamine hit of satisfaction.
However, there is an inherent flaw, which is the idea that to improve or change something, we need to have a date of change (New Year, Birthday, First of Month). I would argue that setting a start date is the first mistake; after all, nothing says it’s not important than saying, “I’ll start this in X days, weeks.” It’s a significant sign of procrastination and one of…
