#0014 New Year’s Resolutions? No no no no no no no

The first 100 Rejections Club Substack post for 2024 (released on NYE)

Welcome back to 100 Rejections Club, where we submit more, stack up more rejections, and celebrate together because… Rejections mean we’re striving toward our creative self-expression goals.

Pledging some New Year’s resolutions is such a bad idea. Kinda like the modern equivalent of self-flagellation? Seriously.

The Nuremberg Chronicle, an encyclopedia dating to around 1490, includes this woodcut image of a couple of dudes whipping themselves. (Source: public domain)

Either the New Year’s resolution is too broad, “eat more healthfully,” or too demanding, “draw for 30 minutes every day.” 

Let’s scrutinize the “eat better/increase (or start to) exercise/sleep more” category. 

• We humans tend to feed several times a day. Are you really going to pause to consider your food choices for every grazing foray? By the end of the third day, decision fatigue will set in, and you will ditch that more healthful eating idea. 

• As soon as a party goes late, or a well-written murder mystery captivates you to keep reading past your bedtime, or you dedicate yourself to marathon-watch of all the seasons of Love Is Blind (in all the locales), you will skip out on the idea of getting more rest. 

• And in January, it’s cold and dark, which makes for cave dwelling (with all the dark chocolate and streaming services), not moving your body. So much for forest bathing.

At the other end of the spectrum is the inflexible resolution. When we pledge to do something on the daily, that is a setup for failure. Think about it. The first time we miss a day, we lose our resolve. All the momentum we’ve built up is washed away, and we are left a sad little puddle of weepiness. 

So I say No no no no no no no to the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. There’s quite enough external rejection from the world, thank you very much. No need to pile more rejection on ourselves, especially self-induced rejection! 

Instead, I recommend investing time in yourself for a successful year. Along with embracing rejection from the lit journals, etc., with renewed vigor — Hey! The point of this Substack! — choose one or several words, an empowering mantra, to bolster your creative endeavors. 

Maybe ten years ago now, my beloved older brother sent me “Unravel Your Year” and “Find Your Word” workbooks. (More on the creator in a minute.) They arrived in a mailing tube at a turbulent time in my life. I can still recall how the papers curved and curled around my hand holding a sparkly green gel ink pen. After I worked through the thoughtful writing prompts, really pondering what I hoped and dreamed for in the coming year, what I really needed during a scary time of transition, I discovered the supportive word I craved. 

The dedication page of The Nuremberg Chronicle showing a family tree including, according to crowd-sourced tags (in alphabetical order no less), Adalbero of Luxembourg Anti Archbishop of Trier, Charles the Bald, Hedwig of Nordgau, Henry I Count of Luxembourg, Hildegard of Vinzgouw, Judith of Bavaria 795–843, Louis the German, Louis the Pious, Siegfried Count of Luxembourg, and Theodoric of Luxembourg Bishop of Metz (Source: public domain)

With “Find Your Word,” my brother had introduced me to Susannah Conway. She’s a UK creative who, in her own words, helps “people access their creative joy and nurture a deeper kinder relationship with themselves.” Susannah started blogging back in 2006 and built up her heart-centered business with an email list that is 30K strong. (She is now dabbling on Substack.)

Every year I find a new word (or several words) via Susannah’s guidance. By the way, she shares these workbooks for free.

My word sets me up for success without the potential pitfalls of resolution rejection. Maybe you’ll find something sensational in the Find Your Word ebook as well. 

Next time: Taking the sting out of rejection, Part Four