THOMPSON: Why I gave up making New Year’s resolutions

Here it is not yet three weeks into 2026…and most of your well-intended New Year’s resolutions are barely memories. I try not to make resolutions…unless it’s something I can live up to…eat more bacon…drink more wine…reasonable goals.

Resolutions – the noble variety – seem guilt-driven…and I resolved to give those up back in 1985…after failing to lose 20 pounds for multiple years. I once bought a Nordic Track treadmill…paid a few thousand dollars for it. 

I used it for a month…and hated it. Every time I passed the thing in my bedroom I frowned. I started using it as a valet…to hang my coats, watch, jewelry and wallet. I didn’t frown as much after that.

Maybe some folks make and keep New Year’s resolutions. I’ve decided I don’t want to hang with those people…they are no fun. Throw me smack dab in the middle of backsliders like me…people who know and understand that perfection is impossible. My kind of people.

Oscar Wilde stated – correctly I might add – that resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account. Research says fewer than 10 percent of those making New Year’s resolutions keep them. I have no research to back my claim that at least half of those folks are lying their asses off. 

Unlike those who keep their resolutions…and tell you so at every social gathering throughout the year…the backsliders revel in their defeat. We are genuine…authentic…people you can trust. That’s my story…and I’m sticking to it.

Why do folks make a big deal of resolutions as the new year arrives? I’m sure you – like me – resolve to do things at other times and we end up keeping those. What, they don’t count? 

Last May, I resolved to no longer eat three donuts in one sitting…eight months later my donut limit is two.. In July, years ago, I resolved to trim my nose and ear hairs regularly…that’s right…I’m still well-groomed.

One thing I’ve learned, making your resolutions – New Year’s or otherwise – public…on social media doesn’t make you more likely to keep them. That might seem counter-intuitive, but it’s true…making it known doesn’t ensure your commitment. 

Like most good things…keep it to yourself…and just do it. I don’t tell anyone, I’m going to give folks that I pass a smile and a “hello”…I just do it. I’ve discovered that a simple smile…a kind word…can make someone’s day. Why not? 

It doesn’t take a resolution to do good…or do better. It takes caring.

That’s said, I am going to eat more bacon and drink more wine this year. It should be a wonderful 2026.