• To continue learning French (I had my first class last night).
• To continue eating better & working out (already lost 25 lbs.).
• To be a good father & husband.
• To read more books (reading about 1-2 each month now, rotating between fiction & non-fiction).
• To try & patch things up with my father if he comes to Paris this Summer (essentially, focusing on what we have in common instead of vice versa).
• To continue being frugal & less dependent on material things.
• To get back in touch with my artistic side (e.g., photography & writing).

My wife & I quit smoking a few years ago as our resolution & other than the occasional cigarette while out with friends, we've stuck to it.

I already broke mine but I didn't care anyway. You could say I achieved it in advance

Hmm... I haven't smoked since Sunday (Jan 01), and don't really want to. Though I did have a strange dream tonight that I've smoked a Belomor Canal cigarette. I don't think they make those since the USSR fell apart...

I'm just going to use this.

Now I need to find a guy called Pete.

New Year's resolutions are bobbins.

If you want to be a better person or quit something, any of the other 364 days of the year are just as good a time. It doesn't really matter if the Earth isn't in particular alignment/orbital range of the sun.

everyone always says "if you really wanted to do it you'd do it any other day of the year' but what's so bad about a little ritual reminder?

There's absolutely truth to this, but as you said, every single day of the year is just as likely to be the day you change as any other, the difference is that you're inspired to enforce behaviors because of the arbitrary measurement of time that is the new year. Tradition affords us the inspiration to build a behavior that we value but are not always immediately thinking about.

I don't think that anyone here said that it's the only day each year that any changes should be made. It's merely a tradition that makes for interesting conversation. It's sort of like cramming for an exam to some people.

It's symbolic. Like getting 1 year older. A helpful push.

One of the problems is that people may decide to give up smoking, then they falter and figure they've failed the resolution so don't bother trying again until the next new year. Sadly I've seen it happen.

I know I've done that, but it's certainly not a feature of just the new years resolutions. It's helpful for me to determine that by next year, I will have wanted to have gotten those things done.

Yeah I don't actually make them but I've somehow ended up with a couple sort-of-resolutions. Mostly to eat more vegetables and to stop buying ****ty quality clothing.

Mine are fairly achievable, though they're not resolutions such as habits I'm developing:

* Do washing up immediately after eating
* Wear proper shoes more often, rather than just trainers or casual shoes
* Wear shirts more
* Learn to iron a shirt properly
* Switch to digital media where possible, ie Kindle books rather than physical books (except for pretty books which should always be printed), no CDs, DVDs or Blu-Rays.
* Dress well even if it's not a special occasion.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot. I get the symbolism etc. It's just the "it doesn't matter if I binge drink, gorge myself on Maccy D's and smoke crack until December 31st because..." thing that stinks.