The end of the calendar year means chillier temperatures, festive treats, time with loved ones,

and, for many, a renewed enthusiasm for self-improvement.

Resolution number one.

Obviously, we'll lose 20 pounds.

Number two, always put last night's pans in the laundry basket.

Equally important, we'll find nice, sensible boyfriend to go out with.

I am going to do one thing I have never done before.

That, my friends, is my New Year's resolution.

Ooh, that's a good one.

Mine is to pilot a commercial jet.

As the clock runs out on 2024, it's a good time to reflect back on the year,

take stock of the good and the bad, and think about the year to come.

And whether you love resolutions or hate them, it can be pretty hard to resist jumping on the whole new year, new you bandwagon. In, you know, more recent American culture, we have sort of big self-improvement culture.

And part of that is, yeah, you know, I think sort of like the ways that advertising and social media

and capitalism have been motivated to have us think that we should always be striving for

something better and trying something new,

that we should be different.

Faith Hill is a writer for The Atlantic a few years ago.

She told NPR about why she was over New Year's resolutions.

The structure of resolutions just doesn't really match a lot of the human experience,

at least when it comes to people's

most important goals. So, you know, we don't just, like, check being a good parent off the list

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