Why New Year resolutions fail, and what Japan taught me about balance

Every January, the world seems to hum with possibility. We buy planners with crisp, untouched pages, sign up for gym memberships, and declare bold promises: “This is the year I’ll finally get it right.”

There’s something intoxicating about that clean slate, the idea that we can reinvent ourselves overnight. I used to love that feeling. I’d write lists of goals so ambitious they felt like a new identity waiting to happen. But by this week, reality would creep in. The planner would sit unopened, the gym shoes untouched, and I’d feel that familiar sting of failure. Why is it so hard to keep resolutions? And why do they feel so heavy, even when they start with hope?

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