{"id":1922,"date":"2026-02-11T15:39:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:39:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/?p=1922"},"modified":"2026-02-11T15:39:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T14:39:27","slug":"one-month-on-revisiting-our-new-years-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/?p=1922&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"One month on: Revisiting our New Year\u2019s resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Richard Peters<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m convinced this is a universal thing \u2013 or at least I hope it\u2019s not just me: In the first few weeks of a new year, I\u2019m aware of a subtle ache. After the joy of Christmas celebrations with family and the comforting blur of the festive season, January\u2019s return to normal cadences can feel abrupt. The quiet mornings, the work emails, the early evening darkness \u2014 all of it reminds us that our recent holiday happiness isn\u2019t the permanent state we wish it were but, rather, a fleeting moment we must learn to contextualise within ordinary life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also certain that many of us will have earnestly committed to one or more New Year\u2019s resolutions, with the aim of changing habits for the better \u2013 but then we get that sinking feeling, take a psychological stumble, when those resolutions clash with reality. It all seemed so achievable when we were buoyed by festive good cheer; now I\u2019ve already eaten that extra bar of chocolate \/ sipped on that midweek glass of wine \/ missed that visit to the gym (but it was snowing, honestly, it wasn\u2019t my fault!). Psychologists call this the \u201cabstinence violation effect\u201d, and it\u2019s what makes us see a lapse not as a temporary setback but as a sign of personal failure. That can lead to feelings of guilt and shame, and in turn, to our abandoning the whole project altogether. Bye-bye, resolutions!<\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t have to be that way! Today I\u2019m feeling good about things. We\u2019re now in early February, and there\u2019s a faint but undeniable pulse of optimism in the air. This is partly just a physiological response to the fact that the days are growing longer again and the chill outside isn\u2019t quite so bitter. It\u2019s the opposite of the winter blues \u2013 a natural recovery of spirits as our exposure to light lengthens and temperatures gently rise. Winter turning into spring is a slow, nearly invisible process; something worth bearing in mind as we work to make a changed routine stick. Remember: Patience is a virtue and Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day! It’s in that middle stretch, between announcing a new behaviour and its becoming an unquestioned part of daily life, where good intentions will either wither or flourish.<\/p>\n

Breaking an old pattern \u2014 whether it\u2019s skipping exercise, scrolling too long, or defaulting to self-doubt \u2014 rarely fails for lack of desire. It fails because old habits feel like home. They\u2019re familiar, easy, soothing. Creating new ones requires not just effort but discomfort: I\u2019m forcing myself to do something I know I\u2019m not going to like in the short term because my sensible side knows it\u2019s for the best in the long term.<\/p>\n

What can I do to give me and my resolutions a fighting chance? When we\u2019re trying to bring about deeply personal change, the key to success is to embrace the fact that we are social creatures. Sharing our goals with friends or family is a brilliant move, because it ensures that other people are invested in seeing us attain those goals. It\u2019s like having a gym buddy: While it\u2019s all too easy for us individually to succumb to the temptation of just staying home, the realisation that to do so would be to let our buddy down serves to strengthen our resolve and get us and our sports bag out the door. And if, in a moment of weakness, you slip up and give in to a temptation you were trying to shake off, then admitting your misstep to someone \u2013 rather than just silently throwing in the towel \u2013 is a good way to help yourself get back on the right path.<\/p>\n

So, if resolutions feel wobbly one month on, that\u2019s not failure \u2014 it\u2019s the natural arc of adjustment. The return to normality, the tug of old habits, the longing for sunshine and warmth \u2014 they\u2019re all part of life\u2019s slow dance through the seasons. Spring will come; so will steadiness. For now, it\u2019s enough to keep nudging ourselves forward, one sensible step at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once the sparkle of the holidays fades, our New Year\u2019s resolutions often wobble. But as the year continues, February brings quiet optimism. We mustn\u2019t forget that change takes patience, kindness, and support \u2014 and that even slow progress counts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[55,686,757,759,758],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1923,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1922\/revisions\/1923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kleinwolfpeters.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}