New Year’s resolutions are a great proof of the Bondage of the Will. We just cannot do what is right or even what is good for us by sheer will power. We might for awhile, but then we fall. Similarly, we might keep our resolutions for awhile, but before too long we break them.
Nevertheless, I think making New Year’s resolutions is still a good idea. Even if you do something helpful for just a few days, that’s something. And they make us form beneficial goals, as well as making us conscious of our limitations.
There are ways to keep some of them: Move them over from resolves of the will to habits of the mind. Force yourself to do them a few times–perhaps by using an external checker or incentive–and eventually you can do them automatically without thinking or willing.
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