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Hi, it’s the resolution guy back for another installment of achievable resolutions you can do for 2025. Maybe you’ve read this column before, in any grocery store checkout aisle rag or even the four other times I have written it.
I am not promising any type of salvation or level ups. The point of this is to try to be optimistic and hopeful but also to give yourself some grace. That’s the real goal, and if we Christopher Columbus our way to world peace (by which I mean, achieve it accidentally—not spreading viruses everywhere), well, that would be a nice bonus.
I am absolutely not a guru. I am mostly a schmuck. But I am a well-intentioned and self-aware schmuck, and I think that’s worth something. Every year my goal is to be a little bit better than I was last year. It’s pretty vague and subjective, which helps me when it gets down to the actual accounting, but this is a goal I set for myself, so the accountability is important to me.
Enough preamble, let’s get to it.
1) Resist
I am not talking about storming the Capitol and I’m not talking about ambushing healthcare CEOs (our lawyers are not interested in taking your case). We already know that 2025 is going to be turbulent.
Resisting is in the eye of the resistor, so it’s fair for it to look different to everyone. Maybe resisting, to you, is reaching out a hand to someone who has been marginalized. Maybe it’s donating money or time to a cause you care about. Maybe it is calling out systematic bullshit when you see it.
I’m not asking you to have faith in the government systems that are supposed to help us. I’m actually asking you to have faith in their ineptitudes to a level that will keep anything terrible from happening because they never get anything done. But if we all resist in little ways, it adds up. Luke could only storm the DeathStar because of all the little things others did to put him on that path.
2) No Public Speakerphone or FaceTimes without Headphones
Aside from the war criminals, corrupt political actors, and power-hungry megalomaniacs vaguely referenced in the prior paragraphs, people broadcasting their phone and video conversations are the worst types of people. If this is you, please stop. And if you are the person on the other end of the call and realize your phone partner is doing this, please hang up on them. We must end this terrible crisis facing America.
3) Go See a SMALL Live Show
Dealer’s choice on this one. Maybe it’s improv, maybe it’s a local band, maybe it’s paintings at a gallery. The thing here is to support an aspirational artist in their nascent phases. Besides encouragement of an aspirational but mostly unsupported artist, you get to potentially brag about seeing the next big deal in a tiny venue, which is priceless braggadocio.
4) Offer to Babysit for a Friend
On the house! Friends with kids are always making excuses why they can’t go do a thing, so either do them a big favor OR spoil their excuse-making. Personally, I don’t care what your reason is. And the sneaky secret is, most of the time you offer, new parents won’t even take you up on it.
5) You Don’t HAVE to Reply Immediately
This is the one I need to be better about. Receiving a text, email, or call is not a contract! It is not the comments section in the 2000s where “FIRST” goes a long way. Take a beat and remember that you are not mandated by the sender, by Steve Jobs’s turtlenecked ghost, or anyone else to reply promptly. I would generally recommend being reciprocal with prioritization, but remember you are not always on the clock.
On that line of thinking…
6) Save Your Energy for Things That Actually Matter
There is so much that matters and even more that doesn’t matter, even if it feels like the ratio is frequently inverted, and the clock is ticking and everything comes down to you. You won’t be as on-the-ball for the things that matter if you waste energy on the things that don’t.
7) Take More Pictures (and Don’t Post Them)
If you are anything like me, sorry, but also, you shy away from asking people to get into a picture or even take a picture because of the overposters in your life. The fear of becoming that person is real, and the side effects are not having physical evidence of a great time or even a decent time.
8) Be Your Own Fact-Checker
Whether we like it or not, we are about to be inundated and reunited with our most elite public liar. And this administration features trickle-down disinformation, from the cabinet all the way down to the supporters. Not everywhere will have community notes or editor’s interjections, so it will require all of us to be on our toes. I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but 63 percent of all information on cable news is completely made up. If you hear something that sounds a bit off-kilter (like the last sentence), make sure you confirm it with credible sources! Together, we can prevent forest fires of falsification!
9) Save Room for Dessert
Don’t let Big Nutrition talk you out of a sweet bite at the end of a meal. Calories are units of energy and not some evildoer going straight for your hips. Of course moderation in everything, but allow yourself to enjoy what you eat.
10) Lead with Kindness
Kindness is always cool, especially in the face of antagonism. Use it as a North Star.
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