Powerful reasons for resolutions

I’m a bit late to the new year’s resolution party and after 2020 I think we’re all a bit wary of rolling out the same old promises we make to ourselves every January 1. We’ve learned that fate usually has the upper hand.

I usually resolve to get fit, lose weight, spend less and save more – and the fact that I trot out the same things every year is all you need to know about how well that’s gone.

I’ve stuck with new year’s resolutions, however, because I’m a sucker for the idea that a new year is the perfect time for a reset. And every now and then I actually manage to keep my resolutions – like my promise more than a decade ago to quit smoking.

But to be honest, my usual resolutions seem embarrassingly unambitious when you consider what the world really needs right now – to name just a few: a rapid rollout of a safe and effective vaccine, the reopening of international borders so we can see friends and families overseas again, relief for those who have lost jobs, or their businesses, because of the pandemic -- and world peace, which no longer sounds like the punchline to a joke these days.

Surprisingly, however, I’ve realised that the pandemic is a powerful reason to recommit to all my usual resolutions. Staying fit and healthy is a worthwhile goal at any time, but even more so now with a pandemic raging around the world.

Seven years ago I started running when I realised I was the age at which my father had his first heart attack and I was headed in the same direction. I couldn’t even run 200 metres when I signed up for a half-marathon but I blabbed about that goal to everyone so I couldn’t back out.

I ran that first half-marathon and a few more but then fell out of the habit of running after getting an injury. Then life threw another curveball and we ended up moving to a place that involved a three-hour round-trip commute, which tested my motivation to stay fit generally.

So my 2021 goal is to make time again to prioritise fitness.

Almost as important as physical resilience is financial resilience; if you’d told an airline pilot a year ago the world’s entire aviation fleet would be all but grounded, they wouldn’t have believed you. 2020 taught all of us that job security, and income, can disappear in an instant.

So my resolution to spend less and save more has more meaning now than ever.

I suspect most of our readers feel the same about addressing their health and financial fitness so I hope this year we can connect you with expert advice, helpful tips and inspiring stories to help you get there – like this week’s story on page 5 about Papakura dad James Puru-Peri, who decided it was time to get off the couch and is now in training for the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays run. On page 49 we’ve also got advice on how to get fit without having to spend a fortune.

And for financial resilience, on page 3, we’ve got some advice on how to save for a house deposit. Finally, I do have one new resolution for 2021; use the Covid-19 app to scan in everywhere.

Let’s all try and keep that one.

I do have one new resolution for 2021; use the Covid-19 app to scan in everywhere. Let’s all try and keep that one.