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Your Resolutions — Deconstructed

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A New Year's hat among other debris in Times Square after 2012 New Year's Eve celebrations. (AP)
A New Year's hat among other debris in Times Square after 2012 New Year's Eve celebrations. (AP)

Did you begin 2012 by making some resolutions?

I used to be serious about making New Year's resolutions, but slowly, over time, I stopped making them because I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment. So, my resolution is to not make any resolutions.

But here's the thing, it turns out that whether you keep them or not, resolutions can be surprisingly revealing. And surprisingly counter-intuitive.

For example, studies on people who make resolutions have found that making them can actually be an impediment to productive and meaningful change.

That's just one of the conclusions from Joshua Rothman, who wrote about resolutions in Sunday's Boston Globe.

Guest:

  • Joshua Rothman, Boston Globe columnist, doctoral candidate in English at Harvard University

More:

This program aired on January 2, 2012.

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